GMF
by Spykemaster
Summary: LONG story. Cosmo is brought back, strange pods arrive on Mobius, and a conspiracy unfolds of a man who is bent on ripping apart the fabric of our universe, and with the power to do it. Will take a while for the main plot to get going. Will update often.
1. Chapter 1

Four small objects fell toward the oncoming world, their descent fueled by the gravity drawing on the vessels. The fall toward the planet took the better part of an hour and, eventually, they burst into crimson flames as they fell into the atmosphere.

To any lucky spectators, the show would be considered beautiful and inspiring, the dark veil of the night sky lit by fire. Few would fail to be awed at the beautiful show as what seemed to be four meteorites soared across the heavens in a magnificent arc. An amazing show to those that watch, however those that _experienced_ the event would not find the view nearly as beautiful from inside.

Loud warning sirens wailed from each of the objects as they quickly fell closer and closer to the surface, drowning out any and all sounds that may have been emitted nearby. They raced faster and faster until running parallel with the slope of a hill a little more than a few meters below. Nearby, small animals fled in fear of the vessels and the uproar they brought into such a quiet area. Their stop was abrupt and crippling as the first vessel blazed and plowed into a large boulder, shaking the ground and shattering the stone to pieces. The following vessels smashed into the rear of the first, crushing it and all the pieces in between on both sides.

For several minutes, the hill was quiet and lonely, save the sizzling of the vessels as their fires began to burn out. Not even the animals dared to make a sound. All was lifeless and still, as if all were dead.

Then the four objects began to emit a quiet hum, and a voice echoed through each one of them. The voice was strong and firm, but, without any translation, was in a completely different language and dialect than the ones known in these local areas. "Yajus speaking, this is your Yajus speaking," it said. "Addressing all units." The voice began its list, as if reading from a script. "Tech and Science Jaynu?"

A voice that seemed too depressed to be affected by the recent fall answered. "Check."

"Scouting?"

The soft, yet strong voice of a young woman. "Here, sir."

"Armory?"

A raspy, almost chilling voice. "Here."

"Artillery?"

A voice that seemed rooted and steeped in anger. "Here."

"Good. Navigation?"

Silence filled the air for several seconds before the voice spoke again.

"Navigation? Navigation, answer me!"

The woman's voice answered. "...Um, Yajus...?"

"Jaynu?"

"Spring didn't come with us. He insisted we go ahead...without him."

The Yajus clenched both fists tight, anger and rage filling him.

"Spring is still at the Bolt..." the girl almost whispered.

In a blind fury, the Yajus bashed both arms through the control panel of the pod, sending electricity flying in every direction, roaring to nobody in particular, "THAT DAMN FOOL!" In truth, despite the emotion he radiated, he was more worried than enraged.

* * *

Mobius was becoming more and more the peaceful and boring world as the predictable days crawled by with painfully little or even no hurry. Very little ever occurred there anymore, or at least none that any were aware of.

"A little more to the left, and..." Tails adjusted the view of his newly made telescope sideways until it rested on a nearby star. Camped atop the lone hill in a clearing of a forest, he'd assembled his telescope, aimed for the clear night sky and its sparkling inhabitants. Perhaps it was in a sense of nostalgia that he was lately so transfixed on the night sky and all of space itself, or perhaps it was a feeling of guilt of what had transpired up beyond the sky. Whatever the reason, Tails had camped out at this very location and studied the night sky day after day for many weeks.

He focused in on a particular, rather curious arrangement of stars. They burned very brightly, brighter than any other stars in the sky. Plus, according to his star charts, they had never appeared before. They seemed to just pop into existence, out of the blue, or, in this case, the black. _Such a strange phenomenon,_ he thought. Slowly, they burned brighter and brighter and seemed to grow the longer he stared at them.

He pulled his head away from the instrument and stared up at them for several seconds with his bare eyes, noticing that they were indeed growing in size and illumination, and that the ground was actually beginning to shake. _Oh, no. _The "stars" were beginning to roar as they grew, and the woods quickly became noisy as many small animals began to dart through the trees, away from the hill. These four "stars" were obviously falling, apparently in his very direction.

The woods became quiet except for the roaring of the celestial objects, proving that the local wildlife had already fled the scene and left Tails alone on the hill. The tactical part of his mind kicked in as he began to "analyze" the situation. _Let's see, I have four..._ he looked up at the objects which were definitely _not _stars, _...cosmic anomalies...falling at me. _He looked down at the terrain around him. _I am on top of a large hill and the only cover is... _his gaze turned to the surrounding forest. _Trees. Lots and lots of trees._ The entire process took the better part of a minute.

These objects were far too close now. He didn't really have much time to run. Even if he did, it was unlikely that he would escape the turbulence that they were sure to cause. Given the circumstances, Tails concluded that there was only one logical option...

He quickly ducked down to his knees and covered is head just as the first object fell over him. It screeched furiously and burned brightly in its decent. Tails could feel the heat radiating from it across his back for a small moment. About a second after it passed over him, the turbulence chasing it quickly lifted him into the air and threw him off the hill and straight into a nearby tree, tearing his consciousness from his grasp upon impact.

After what was likely several hours later, the kitsune had managed to pick himself up off the ground. For a few seconds, he pondered exactly why he was sleeping at the foot of a tree, and not in a sleeping position. Piece by piece, and second by second, the event that had just transpired replayed in his mind and he regained his calm.

Tails' curiosity kicked in and he slowly limped around the base of the prominence until he located the crash site, and one word instantly flew through his head: _pods. _There were four of them, each smashed, beaten, and scorched black over most of their frames. The one that seemed to have traveled the farthest distance had an end flattened against what looked to be a cracked boulder. All of the successors had smashed into the back end of the first and flattened its rear. Although difficult to tell from the damage, the pods seemed to each be in the shape of a teardrop, large and round at one end that thinned up to a point at the other.

"Hmm..." Tails placed his hands on the burnt hull of the nearest one, still warm, but no longer burning, and brushed aside a large layer of ash. Beneath it, carved into the hull, were many symbols that seemed to swirl and shift in size and shape. He studied them closely for several moments before resigning. He stepped over to the pod to the right of it, the least structurally damaged, and placed his hand on the rear of the hull. He snapped his arm back as the pod suddenly hissed loudly and without a warning, and a side of the hull slowly slid to the side until it reached the other end of the rear, revealing a hollowed interior.

Tails' eyes lit up as he viewed the contents of the pod. Many small batteries, tools, and other gadgets littered the inside. Technology. And not of this era, from the looks of them, or even of this planet.

An idea suddenly popped into his head, a project he had been working on. _With these..._ he thought, pulling out a couple of small gadgets. _Maybe... just maybe._ He rummaged through the machinery and pulled out as many parts as he felt he would need. With his arms full of equipment, he turned back around and headed for home, completely forgetting his telescope, the pods, and what else may be inside them.

Now, nothing was more important that his plan.

* * *

"It's the middle of the night, Tails," Sonic numbly stated through a yawn. "Why are you waking us up _this _early?"

Sonic and Knuckles stood in a large dome-shaped building next to a large wall of glass. On the other side of the glass divide was a large...something. Whatever it was, it was composed of many large pillars and batteries with many blinking lights that were linked up to a large glass cylinder in the middle of the room. It looked like something straight out of a scientist's fantasies. In a far corner of the room inside the glass was a small cubicle where Tails proceeded punching in numerous codes into a computer. "Trust me, Sonic," his voice echoed across the room, "it's for a good cause."

"And what cause would that be?" Knuckles asked.

"You'll see." He pressed a few buttons at his computer and a couple of the pillars began to hum lowly. "Don't worry."

Knuckles shook his head. "'You'll see?' _That_ worries me."

Tails acted as if he hadn't heard the comment. "Are you two behind the shock glass?"

"Yeah," Knuckles answered, lifting his arm at the glass. "We are!" He curled his fingers into a fist and slammed it against the glass, producing a loud, echoing _pong._

"AHHH!" Tails fell backward out of his chair, cupping his ears. "It echoes in here, you know!"

Sonic waved his arm at the metal complex. "What is this supposed to do?"

"This," he answered, standing back up and steadying his chair, "is a little something I've been brewing up for the past few months..." he stopped for a moment to calculate in his head, "six and one-third to be exact. I couldn't finish it before since I couldn't locate necessary pieces of equipment to accomplish the construction of the power adapters, and-"

"What?" Knuckles mocked, cocking his head to one side.

Tails' head poked out from behind the cubicle. "It's a DNA regenerator." He then leaned forward to the computer.

"But what's the glass for?" He raised his arm again and lightly tapped on the glass.

His head poked out again, only with a serious, disapproving look marking him. "Knuckles. Don't." He turned back "It's for your protection."

"Protection from what?"

He remained silent and continued to type.

"Protection from what, Tails?"

"...Things explode."

The two naturally took a few steps back.

"I don't get it." Sonic continued to eye the machinery nervously. "What's it for?"

Tails' voice echoed from his desk. "Okay, here's how it works."

"Okay."

"You feed the pod a sample of someone's deoxyribonucleic acid."

"Deoxy..."

"DNA."

"Right!"

"The computer scans the DNA."

"Okay."

"It searches for matches."

"Following you."

Then Tails spoke quickly, figuring the two would keep up. "Then through complex adhesion and cohesion, it extracts all particle matches found from anywhere in this dimension to the DNA sample, rebuilds it-including physical features, memory, brainpower, and all- to its original state before the DNA was scattered. It's perfect."

"Uh...what?"

A sigh. "Rather than being told about it, I think it'd be best to show you." He picked up the DNA sample from his desk: a small potted plant. "...I just hope it works..." He stood up from his desk, stepped over tot the center pod, knelt down, and set the pot on the floor.

Simply from the sight of the plant, the entire plan became evident to the two. "Wait a second," Sonic called, straightening himself up, "isn't that the seed that I found..."

Tails pulled out a scoop and began shoveling out soil from the pot onto the floor. "Yes...it is. According to my theory, this should regroup the DNA."

Knuckles placed a hand on the glass, but not to knock this time. "You mean...bringing her back?"

He nodded, gently lifting the plant out of its pot with both hands and placing it on the floor of the pod. "If it works." He stood back up and closed the door to it.

Sonic glanced back and forth between the plant and tails. "If? What if it doesn't?"

He took a few deep breaths before answering. "...Given the power of the magnetism needed...the plant will collapse in on itself." Silence filled the air. No one wanted to consider the possibility. "We'll lose her. And this time she won't leave a seed..." He took uneasy strides over to his cubicle.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Tails had to stop and consider it for a moment. Is the risk worth it? What if it doesn't work? What if there was a small miscalculation? But, then again, what if it did work? With reluctance, he decided. "...Yes. For my friends, I will have to take the risk." He looked at a small key on his keyboard, the key that would begin the sequence. With a deep breath, he reached an arm out, and pressed it.

The procedure started off slow, simple, and boring. A few hums from the computer and some beeps. Basically nothing special. Then, several minutes later, the process became interesting. With absolutely no warning, one of the towers exploded with a huge BANG, the echo throwing Tails out of his seat. The explosion was followed by a series of other towers collapsing at random intervals, some simply toppling over while others abruptly combusted. Finally, a bright light show came from the remaining towers, engulfing the entire room in a thick, white veil.

"All part of the procedure!" Tails shouted, cupping his ears.

After a few seconds of light, visibility returned and everything was...normal, minus the debris. The equipment had all fallen in various piles and looked to be damaged beyond repair. Everyone looked around, expecting to see the roof cave in or a wall fall out. Nothing. Then one difference caught everybody's eye. Movement in the pod. No one failed to see as a small girl fell limply against the interior of the pod.

* * *

"Yajus?" A voice crackled over the radios for all the pod-dwellers to hear.

"Yes?"

"My scanners detect a large power surge not too far north from here."

The Yajus grinned. "Good. That surge was probably from our tech." His grin disappeared. "I want to meet the guy who actually had the guts to pilfer GMF equipment..."

* * *

SM) Not much better than it originally was, but I had put this off for far too long. The following chapters will all be edited, as well. Hopefully this wasn't as painful to read through as it once was.


	2. Chapter 2

SM) This is a continuation of my chapter remakes. Overall, I'm hoping to make them less of a mash of bad grammar and errors and more of a story. Hopefully this one comes out better.

* * *

"It's been hours, Tails," Sonic yawned, his eyes barely opened past a squint. "I don't think she's going to wake up any time soon. Why don't we call it a night?"

"It's the middle of the day, Sonic."

"Day, night, whatever." He stretched his arms out and yawned again. "All I know is that we've been up for too long... I've already dozed off twice."

After a moment's pause the two looked over at the bed where the girl lay. The whole procedure had been a complete success, without any apparent error. Cosmo was back, at least physically. She seemed completely unconscious and her heart rate was slow, but all other bodily activities were progressing at an alarmingly quick rate: she was taking in quick, short breaths, her eyelids were fluttering almost constantly, and her entire body went into occasional spasms. She seemed to be muttering quick, random nonsense which sounded as if it were from worlds away. Some didn't even seem so coordinated.

_We're only halfway there, _Tails told himself, his gaze resting on one of the young girl's hands, the fingers occasionally twitching. _There doesn't seem to be anything conscious, save the strange speech. I can't rest easy until I know she's okay. _He looked back at Sonic, who wore a rather disturbed expression on his face. Her actions seemed to be bothering him, also. "Look, Sonic, you go get some sleep. I'm not leaving until she wakes."

Sonic didn't look away. "Are you sure...that she _will _wake up?"

The question lurched Tails' stomach. "...Yes. She has to." His voice was quiet and weak.

Sonic looked over at him, a silent concern.

"She has to!" Tails repeated, more confidence surfacing this time. "It makes sense, after all."

"What does?"

"Well, think about it. She just had her entire body rebuilt in a manner of seconds, and from far away. The shock of such a huge ordeal would probably leave her weakened, to say the least. But I seriously doubt anything is actually wrong." In reality none of this was proven, but being the intellectual whom most individuals would come to believe in a simple statement of logic, he felt the need to attempt to twist fate with his simple record of accuracy. By saying it was so, maybe he could make it so. _But it's all reaction. It's mostly basic reflexes. Anything any animal might do. What if there's really nobody there...?_

Sonic stretched and yawned one more time. "I hope you're right. It'd be great to have her back."

"...Yeah..."

"Look, Tails. I'm tired. I'm gonna' get some sleep... I dunno'... under a tree somewhere." He stepped over to Tails' computer desk and snatched a small radio from it. "Call me the moment she wakes up, you hear? Wake me up if you have to!"

"Alright."

"And don't stay up too long! You need to get some sleep sometimes, too."

"Okay."

Sonic, being unable to think of anything more to say, nodded, turned around, and quietly stepped outside.

* * *

Hours later, Tails pulled up a chair and sat down next to Cosmo's unconscious figure, barely able to keep his eyes open. For Sonic, it had only been a day without sleep. For the overworked kitsune, however, it had been just under a week. He managed to peer out a window at the starry sky, now darkened under the veil of the night.

_It's late._ His thoughts were becoming increasingly tired as his waking moments dragged on. _Very late. It's been days. _He looked back at Cosmo. _But she still hasn't woken up. What if...she doesn't? What if she stays like this? Was bringing her back the right thing to do? Have I done her a disservice? Have I hurt her by doing this? Was this a mistake?_

He quickly jumped up from his chair, knocking it over, and covered his face with both hands, any action that may help alleviate his stress.

_She's hurt. It's not her. She's right there in front of me, but... it's not her! It's my fault! I shouldn't have done this! Sonic said that she was alright how she was, why didn't I listen! Why? Why did I have to be so selfish? WHY?_

A soft, meek sound cut off his painful thoughts, prompting him to look down at Cosmo again. A quiet moan uttered from her as she vaguely twitched. The sound of her docile voice was somehow...soothing.

_But...she's alive. And she can get better. Just look at her! She seems almost conscious as she is. Just as if she were only asleep._

He set the chair back up and plopped back down in it, attempting to calm his nerves.

_I'm thinking on this too much. I haven't slept for days. Maybe after a good night's...rest._

Tails sat back in his chair, allowing himself to rest his eyes. Now making a conscious attempt to fall asleep, his mind completely fell blank, and he was dead to the world within minutes.

* * *

_All of this...for me?_

_**He is a tender spirit.**_

_But, so much..._

_**He cares for you in a way you don't understand yet.**_

_But I... I think I do._

_**...Maybe you do. You see, don't you? It's you...but it isn't.**_

_I do. It's awful...Why? Is this also what you said?_

_**Yes...**_

…

_**We all have a role to play. Yours has not ended.**_

_...I...I see..._

_**...Are you sad?**_

_...No..._

_**Of course not. But you must know that there can be no freedom in what will happen.**_

_None?_

_**This is the one exception. There can be no others. You must forget. I will make sure of that.**_

_I understand._

_**The dream is fading, as am I. This must be done, dear child. May we last forever.**_

_Forever, Elyana..._

* * *

Quiet breathing. The seraphic beating of wings. A light, warm and tangible, pouring from their celestial vision.

* * *

Tails opened his eyes, a gentle glow, golden and beautiful, flooding his pupils. The room, now dimly lit, seemed to glow with the same beauty. He was dreaming, as it could only be. In front of him, the young Seedrian Cosmo lay. Above her, pouring the golden, caressing glow, were wings. They floated there, with their own will, warm and caring, grace incarnate, their feathers long, flowing, and of a purest ivory white. Slowly, as evanescent as the very dream could be, the pure wings began to fade, the passionate light beginning to grow dimmer with them. Then, with a final sentimental flick, a blanket of the beauteous plumage flew from the elegant wings, filling the silent room with a gentle mantle. As the feathers fell, one by one, to the floor a dim, azure light filled them, slowly enveloping until they had each vanished from sight, the glow with them. As the room cleared, the down gradually fading from sight, the wings, and their soft, caressing light with them, had fleeted from all sight, leaving the room in its silent, somber, and lonely darkness.

He closed his eyes again. Why look? After all...

It was a dream.

* * *

Sonic, who at this point was leaning back against a tree, woke in the middle of the night to Tails' stressed voice crackling over the radio he had placed at his side.

"Come on! Sonic! Answer me! Sonic, are you asleep? Or just ignoring me? Sonic, WAKE UP!"

He yawned and lazily reached over, picking up the device. "Yes?"

"At last! I've been calling you for the past five minutes! What took you!"

"Well, I-"

"Whatever! It doesn't matter!"

"...Tails?"

"She's up! She's awake! Get over here!"

The hedgehog sprung back up on his feet. "What, really?"

"You think I would joke about this?"

"No, no, I'm on my way!"

He began his sprint, but didn't get far. Not five steps into his run he felt his foot snag, as if nimbly caught from behind, and he fell face-first into the ground with an abrupt shout and a thud. He staggered to his feet while wiping the dirt off his face. For anyone else, tripping wasn't much, but for Sonic to trip...

He looked all around him. Maybe someone was watching? Just trees.

He turned back around with a nonchalant shrug and took another brisk step, ready to run again, but stopped dead as he realized he was suddenly not as alone as he had believed. Directly in front of him, as if he had emerged from the enveloping darkness or, perhaps, had dropped in from the sky, calmly stood a man.

"...You should watch where you step, blue boy." His voice was quiet, but seemed to be steeped in a nearly-tangible malice.

Sonic took a couple of steps back from the man. In the dark, it would be hard to judge how this guy looked. He was tall, at least a little taller than the hedgehog, himself. He wore a pale coat that seemed to glow against the moonlight, and his long hair matched the latter exactly. A strange sense of hostility seemed to emanate from him, as if he held a violent grudge against his very surroundings.

"Running at that kind of speed, you're too likely to crash into things and people." His wide eyes squinted at him. "People with _really _short tempers." Although he didn't even raise his voice, it seemed to grow more and more threatening.

A somewhat-intelligent thought busted through Sonic's head. _Best avoid trouble. Swallow the threat, don't talk back. There won't be any trouble. _He made a quick, jittery bow. "Uh, yes, sorry sir! It shouldn't happen again!"

"It better not."

_Okay, no problems so far. _He slowly skirted around the man, purposely moving slower than usual. "Uh, I need to get going..."

"One last thing...before you leave."

He spun back around to the man, suddenly feeling as if the weight of the man's malice had been lifted. "Yeah...what?"

Curiously, matching the relieved emotion present only a moment before, the man's face turned thoughtful, as if carefully choosing his words. "Have you, by any chance, seen some...foreign tech...just lying around?"

"Tech?"

He nodded. "Just a little bit back, perhaps a few days or a week or two, my companions and I were robbed. Some machinery. Any chance you may have seen some? Or maybe have an idea who the...culprit is?"

For a few seconds, Sonic thought it over. This seemingly bipolar man seemed to be insinuating something. Then, all at once, the hint-aided situation hit him like a hammer. _Tails... Is that where he got the equipment for that machine? Did he steal it?_ He swapped his gaze back up to the man. "Uhnogottagobye!"

Before the man spoke again, Sonic was gone, ignoring the previous speed warning and leaving him in a cloud of dust. Somehow, staying with him any longer seemed...dangerous.

* * *

Sonic skidded into Tails' infirmary-style room, quickly spinning around and shutting and locking the door. Paranoid? Maybe a little.

Tails raised an eyebrow at his near-comical behavior. "Sonic, what took you so long? I've waited almost three minutes for you! I was expecting you in thirty seconds!" He followed with a shake of his head, imagining how ridiculous an argument this would be toward anybody else.

The hedgehog spun back around and flattened his back against the door, slowly pulling himself off it as he looked over at the bed. "...Forget about it. How is she?"

Cosmo was awake. She was sitting upright, her legs hanging over the side. But something seemed...different. Somehow. She just stared at the floor. Dazed. Her expression was completely blank. She didn't even seem to notice that he had entered the room.

Sonic pulled himself off the wall and slowly stepped over to her, kneeling down next to her and looking her in the face for a few seconds. "...Cosmo?"

Her head instantly snapped over in his direction, making him jump. She cocked her head to one side. "Who are you? You...look familiar."

He turned back to Tails. He was shaking, his hands clenched in fists. This was killing him.

"I did this..." he said, his words breaking apart between quiet sobs. "I...I've killed her all over again..."

The room was filled with silence for several moments, save Tails' sobs. There wasn't any appropriate way to start a conversation at this point. It was a cold thing to ask, but...

"Tails, where did you say you found those pieces for that machine? You told me you just...found them."

This suddenly made him jump, and his expression changed from despair to worry. "...I completely forgot. The pods!"

'What pods?" _At least this pulls you off the subject_.

Tails began pacing back and forth. "I found these pods in the woods that seem to have come from some unknown ship. One of them had the equipment." He cradled his heads in his hands. "Oh no, I've stolen from them. I'm a thief!" He turned around and headed for the door, ready to just leave the two behind. "I need to find those pods. There may be people, or..." He looked back over at Cosmo. "...maybe an explanation."

In a single bound, Sonic leaped between Tails and the door. "Forget it, Tails. Not tonight. How about tomorrow?"

"Why tomorrow?"

He thought of the tall, malicious man from before. _No need to risk putting anyone else near him. He's probably still lurking out there somewhere._ "Well, it's not as dark and scary in the sun!"


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic stepped over to the entrance to Tail's workshop, the location in which Tails instructed him to rendezvous the next day before they went to study the pods. They had to be important, judging from the equipment Tails had found.

He lifted is arm to knock on the door, but stopped at the sound of a familiar voice from behind him.

"Well, I certainly should have expected this..."

He slowly turned around, knowing who he would see: the same man from last night. Only now, instead of a silent malice, he was practically screaming trouble. In his left hand was a large paddle, the edges lined with spikes and a chain running through the base, with many foreign markings engraved into it. The thing was longer than the man was tall, and standing next to him at about the same height was a large...furry...brown...beast...thing. It seemed to resemble some sort of weasel and wore a white headband above its slanted eyes.

Sonic forced a smile. "Oh, it's you again! And, look, you have a pet! What's its name-"

"PET?" The weasel answered for him, taking a threatening step forward, but was pulled back by the man. The weasel growled at him in response, but was quieted with odd language from the man, mostly comprising of rhyming syllables. It answered with a few odd, indistinguishable sounds, completely unlike the man's, turned back toward Sonic, and raised its arms into the air.

Sonic jumped as eight large claws quickly sprung up from its hands. "Hey, now! Wait a sec-"

Before he was given an opportunity to finish, the animal was already in a full speed charge and its claws were only a few feet away from Sonic's face. _What to do, what to do..._ Sonic thought. _Maybe I should...run? Yeah, that sounds like a swell idea!_

Not a moment before the blades could even graze him, Sonic had disappeared from sight and was leaned against a nearby tree, lazily yawning as loud as he could. The animal's clawed arm flew straight through the door to the warehouse. It yanked its arm back, leaving a large hole in the door, and flexed its fingers, making its claws click against each other. "...Tekamim..." The word wasn't understandable, but was said slowly and with an obvious hint of admiration in its voice. It turned back toward the other man, who was laughing and pointing at the blunder that had just been made, spoke a few unknown words in protest, then finally turned back to Sonic.

Sonic glanced back and forth at the duo. "Hey, guys, am I the only one totally out of the loop? Would one of you care to fill me in, here?"

The animal made a toothy smile and its headband split down the middle, folding over and over until a lens cupped around its left eye, aimed in the hedgehog's general direction.

"So, what would that be- AAHH!"

Sooner than before, the beast was right in front of him again and thrust both arms forward. Sonic quickly ducked just soon enough for the claws to pass just over his head, embedding themselves in the tree, and he made a full-speed sprint forward. Aiming for the newly-made large hole in the door, he jumped, curled his body into a ball, and sailed straight through, landing clean on the other side.

He chuckled as he stood back up and dusted himself off. Through the hole he could faintly hear the infuriated roar of the self-pinned animal and the elated laughter of the armed man. He spared a moment to stretch his back out. "Didn't even touch me."

* * *

The weasel was currently in a difficult struggle, straining to pull its claws out of the tree. While it growled and roared and pulled in frustration, the man slowly tugged his paddle along next to him, laughing almost hysterically at its predicament. "Man, that little blue boy is fast, isn't he? I saw him last night, but I didn't expect _this!_"

The animal gave one last roar, ripping its claws from the wooden prison. It spun around, making a movement toward the workshop, but was stopped as the man put a hand on its chest.

"Alright, calm down. He can't run now."

It simply growled in response.

"You stay here, and I'll go look for more of them, alright."

It glared at him, its headband folding back up on its forehead.

He turned around and quickly walked away, calling back, "I _can _trust you with that, right?"

* * *

Sonic stepped in and out of each room he ran by, Tails and the others nowhere to be found. As he ran through the last door in the hall, he breathed a sight of relief to see the yellow and red hides of his friends.

He quickly spun around, closing and locking the door behind him. "Okay, guys, there are some people outside who do _not _seem very friendly, and I think that they may have something to do with..." his voice trailed off as he turned, noticing that the two were sat down in a far corner, their hands bound behind their backs by what seemed to be two metal bands each. Knuckles seemed unconscious and was covered with large bruises. "Um...why are you guys in a corner?"

Tails nodded to the corner across from them, past the many tables and miscellaneous items that were sprawled out and broken across the floor, at a copper-colored figure leaned up against the wall. "Because of him."

* * *

The figure was somewhere between the heights of Sonic and the man from before, and its back seemed to be as stiff as a shell, but with layers upon layers of metallic spikes jutting downward across it. The elbow joints in its arms also extended to blade-like points, around its waist was a belt with many small cubes attached, and he was spinning a pair of the same bands that bound Tails and Knuckles around one finger. Its entire body was copper-colored.

"So, you here to join them?" he asked, his voice seeming somewhat frank, but very firm.

Sonic glanced once more at his friends, then at the figure again. "You did this to them?"

He placed the bands on a cracked table next to him and shrugged. "They refused to cooperate, so I had to neutralize them. He stared over at the unconscious echidna. "The red one put up quite a fight."

A chill raced up Sonic's spine. _This guy actually took down Knuckles? And he doesn't even look tired! _He straightened himself up and looked the mysterious assailant in the eye. "And those two outside? That man and that animal? Are they with you?"

He nodded. "Yes. Jaynus Jeckres and Zhagohst, appointed directly under me."

He blinked twice. "Jay-what?"

"Jaynu. Second status under Yajus."

"Yaj- whatever. And you are?"

The figure stepped away from the wall, straightened up, and faced him. "I am Yajus of the Sixteenth ranks of GMF. I led troops into battle in Highbeam against the Terror Child, squared off against the Letang captain, and assisted in the removal of the last Shevar. I, myself, do not even know for sure who I am. My birth is not on record, however, my death may be. Technically, I shouldn't even exist. I do not know my name, but the public refers to me by a simple physical characteristic. I am Spyke."

Sonic tried for a moment to wrap his head around the info just given to him, but hit a mental dead end. "Uh, what? You're not making any sense to me, pal."

"I'm not 'pal', I'm Yajus Spyke. You will refer to me by my title rank and name I am referred to as."

He simply rolled his eyes. _This guy has a huge ego. _"And you said Sixteenth ranks of GMF? What's GMF?"

The man apparently called Spyke gave a surprised look. "What do you mean, 'what's GMF?' Just what kind of backwater planet is this?"

The words hit Sonic hard. "This is Mobius. This is my home. And I won't let you stand here and let you insult it and hurt my friends." A thought hit him. _My friends. _He turned and faced Tails. "Tails, where's Cosmo!"

The kitsune sat up a little straighter, a look of worry now across his face. "She's outside. I told her it might be good for her to take a walk. She shouldn't be far from here!"

Sonic looked back at Spyke. "You'd better not have hurt her, or-"

"Oh, shut up," he snapped, pulling a small device from his belt. He pushed a button on it and held it to the side of his head. "All Jaynus, we have a confirmed report of one more suspect in the area. Judging from overheard pronouns, female, and named Cosmo. She should be the last one. Get moving."

Sonic stared as he placed the radio on the table. "They had better not hurt her. She can't even think for herself right now!"

"Then you shouldn't have sent her out there on her own, should you?"

He began taking deeper breathes, anger slowly starting to grip him. "Alright, what are you here for? What do you want?"

Spyke scanned his eyes over each one of them, then replied. "My companions and I crash-landed here. Personally, I don't want anything to do here, but somebody made off with a load of tech of ours. We simply need it back." He snatched the bands off the table. "Now, hands behind your back-"

"NOT A CHANCE!"

At full speed, Sonic rushed forward and thew a full-strength punch directly at the face of the bronze assailant, catching him off guard and pushing him into the far wall. He charged again, throwing another punch. Just before the second impact, Spyke raised an arm and caught his fist inches from his face. Sonic yelled in pain as his hand was slowly crushed by a single copper fist, dropping him to his knees while attempting to pull his hand free.

Spyke knelt down so their faces were level. "That makes aggravated assault on a GMF Yajus, doesn't it?"

"I...don't even know...what a 'Yajus' is...!"

"I think this gives me the right to defend myself, don't you think?"

Before Sonic could answer with a somewhat- comical 'no', he was lifted into the air as Spyke span around once and flung him across the room, crashing across tables and into the far wall at the opposite end.

He lay sprawled across a split table against the wall as Tails attempted to shout words of encouragement from aside. He shook his head violently, half to clear his head, half out of disbelief. _There's no way this guy is this strong! How is that possible?_

"So," Spyke calmly stated, stepping in front of him, "you had enough yet?"

* * *

Cosmo trudged her way through the soft grass between the trees, a swarm of thoughts on different subjects racing through her head. _That kid called 'Tails'...he said I have 'amnesia'... What's amnesia? He says taking a walk may help me remember stuff... Have I forgotten something? What have I forgotten? Am I sick? He said I'm a 'Seedrian'. Are these woods really as safe as he says? Why does he want me to remember anything? Why is he looking out for me? He seems...sad._

_And that blue guy, Sonic. Is he a friend, too? Is he Tails' friend? Does that make him my friend? Did the three of us...do something...together? Were there others?_

She stopped and leaned sideways against a nearby tree as something came to her. Not just questions, but actual sound and vision, something that was faint, but powerful, something reaching out from the back of her mind...

Fire. And screaming. And blood. And pain. And panic...Death. Basic feelings and fears, but with no actual form. Just thoughts and emotions.

She dropped to her knees and cradled her head in her hands as it began blasting her vision and her hearing.

People dying. People dying all around her. _I...know them..._she thought. _I know them all...don't I? Aren't they friends? Aren't they...family?_

Fear began to grip her as a voice, a soft, familiar voice began to echo in her ears, but in the purest terror, repeating one word over and over again. "_...Run..."_

The whole mental assault was suddenly shattered as a new voice, a real voice, targeted her. "So, I guess this is her. What a surprise."

Cosmo looked up from the ground at the man in front of her, silver hair and coat emphasizing a killer vibe emanating from him. She stumbled back to her feet and slowly began taking steps back as he closed in on her.

"I was told there was one little girl around here that still needed to be checked up on...and I happen to be the one to find her..."

Cosmo continued taking steps back, her mind running in a complete panic. _Who is he? What does he want? Is he going to hurt me?_

As the man slowly closed the distance between himself and girl, a killer smile spread across his face. "It's quite a lucky day for me to come across one of you on such a small, backwater planet, little Sarpecian witch. And _this time _with nobody standing in the way."

_Sarpecian? What's that? Does he mean me? Tails said I'm a Seedrian!_

The man reached within his coat and pulled out a small, metal rod with multiple buttons on it. Pressing one with his thumb, the rod suddenly grew to many times its normal length and widened into a paddle shape, and, squeezing a different button, many spikes extended from half the length of the paddle and began sliding up and down in a vibrating motion, moving faster and faster until the spikes were nothing but a blur of metal and noise.

The man gave a sadistic smile. "I'd tell you this will be quick and painless, but where would the fun in that be? There's nothing better than to listen to the last suffering, screaming breath a Sarpecian takes before its death, is there?"

Cosmo stared at the paddle facing her, at the sharp blades vibrating at an almost invisible speed, at the simple tool that could easily tear her apart. _No...He can't do this... I don't even know him! Does he know me? Why would he do this?_

He nodded toward the path behind her. "Go ahead. Run. Let's turn this into a little game."

Fight-or-flight syndrome kicking in, Cosmo did as told, spinning around and taking off as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Let's see just how far you can make it!" he yelled after her. "Let's make this a little fun!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sonic coughed into his crunched hand, not entirely aware of the danger he was in. Tails continued to yell some words of encouragement, not entirely distinguishable to his ears. Spyke stood over him, only a bored expression marking him. "So, do you give up yet?"

He grunted in pain as he attempted to flex the muscles in his hand. His fingers could barely move and his wrist felt as if it were on fire. He looked back up at Spyke. "Geez...that really hurt, you know!"

"On your feet," he answered in the same monotone, reaching down and taking his shoulder with vice-like strength. Sonic smiled as the advantage easily presented itself to him. He reached an arm up. grabbed the back of Spyke's head, and thrust his leg forward, kicking his knee out from under him. In the same motion, he pulled as hard as possible on his head, dragging him off balance and slamming him into the rubble. The second his head collided with the table, Sonic jumped to his feet and ran to the opposite wall.

"Yeah, nice shot, Sonic!" Tails yelled out, at least attempting to be optimistic.

Forgetting his injury, Sonic replied with a quick thumbs-up, then grasped his thumb tightly with his other hand as the pain reminded him. A small amount of joy came to him. _Yay. I can move my thumb._ His mind jumped back to the situation at hand as a groan came from the table, Spyke slowly pulling himself to his feet with a hand on his forehead. _I can't let him get up, _Sonic told himself. _I can't take that risk.  
_  
Before Spyke was even completely upright, Sonic rushed forward and, in a midair leap, spun around once and fired a rock-shattering kick to his head, rocketing the bronze assailant across the room and into the the back wall, cracking the structure around the point of impact.  
Sonic landed in the center of the room, watching Spyke's immobile figure against the wall and panting heavily. _I really threw everything into that kick, _he thought. _He'd better not get back up. I won't be able to dish out another.  
_  
Except for Sonic's panting the room was silent. Nobody said a word, Spyke didn't seem to be moving, and Tails had even stopped giving his cheers.

A cold chill went up Sonic's spine. _No way..._ he shook his head in disbelief, staring as Spyke slowly lifted an arm up and pushed himself up onto his feet with the aid of a table. The copper assailant stared him down the room, his face now grimaced into a look of pain and anger rather than the absent expression he seemed to normally wear.

His angry expression suddenly swapped into a large smile. "You look tired. Whatsa' matter, put too much into that?" Although his voice seemed confident, his entire body shuddered with each breath he took.

"You shouldn't even be _conscious_! How are you able to just stand there?"

Ignoring the question, Spyke reached an arm down, pulled a small cube from his belt, and held it into the air. With a quick chuckle, he crushed it in his hand, and the entire room was drowned in a white flash. Sonic raised an arm to shield his eyes, lowering it moments later. He looked around, unable to see far past his face at all. Everything seemed to be white, yet slowly flowing. _It's smoke...But it's breathable? _He continued to look around, but everything seemed to be completely obscured. Spyke, Tails, and all the debris were beyond the thick smoke, and with absolutely no visibility.

"Sonic!" Tails' voice squeaked from the corner. "Sonic, get in a corner!"

"What?"

"This is exactly what he did to Knuckles! Get in a corner so he can't sneak up!"

Without a response, Sonic did as instructed, stepping backward until he felt a wall, and sidled until he reached the adjacent and was safe in a corner. _At least now I can see wherever he's coming from..._  
Sonic jumped as a large slam echoed from across the room. Moments later, a table came into sight, moving at high speed and smashed into the wall next to him, barely missing and completely splitting the stand down the middle. He looked down at the two table halves, then back at where they came from. "You know, Spyke, you're breaking just about every rule that has to do with a fair fight! How about fighting on even ground?"

Another slam.  
_  
Damn! _Sonic leapt up as a second table flew directly at him, smashing into the corner he had just taken refuge in, and he landed in the center of the room, despite the previous warning. The smoke was beginning to clear, and the copper figure was now visible against the opposite corner. Spyke was still facing him, but had his hand on a pipe that was fixed to the wall. With a quick jerk, he ripped it off, leaving steam pouring out of the gaps it made. Sonic glanced at the pipe, then at him again. "Oh, come on! What did I just say? This isn't fair!"

He readied the pipe into a baseball stance and took a practice swing at the air. "Wanna' try that move again, blue boy?"  
Sonic shook his head, the smoke just about clearing out. "Come on, I'm a little smarter than that!" He rapidly swapped his gaze all over the room, searching for some advantage. _Alright, what've we got... This 'Spyke' guy doesn't move around very fast, but has REALLY quick arms. He crushed my fist with one hand AND threw me across the room and through a table...with ONE hand. If he hits me with both hands on a metal pipe..._ He shuddered as an image of himself being contorted into a pretzel shape flashed through his head. _Let's avoid that. _He glanced at the wall to his right and visually followed it behind Spyke. _That looks good. I'll run across the wall, jump behind him, and kick him in the back, which should be enough to knock him down! He's slow, so he won't be able to turn around AND swing at me, and-  
_  
Sonic's thoughts were cut short as he suddenly felt a sharp pain across his head and fell flat on his back, a metallic cling echoing in his ears. Following the echoing clang came Spyke's voice from across the room. "Sorry. Time's up."

/

_Let's make this a little fun! _The words replayed themselves again and again in Cosmo's mind, the voice louder than her own panicked breaths as she sprinted to escape the fainting metallic buzzing behind her. She ran for minutes on end, ducking low branches and stumbling over rocks and outgrown roots. After what seemed like forever at a full-speed sprint, fatigue finally caught up to her and the adrenaline cooled, and Cosmo allowed herself to come to a stop, leaning against a tree to catch her breath. The appeared to be temporarily safe- the buzzing seemed to have come to a stop.  
_  
What does he want? Did I do something he didn't like? Have I done something to him before? Why __would he... _She dropped to her knees and held her head in both hands, her head feeling as if it were being crushed.  
Fire. Screaming. Terror. The scenes replayed themselves again and again in her head, each time growing more vivid. "_...Run..." _The soft, terrified voice she heard before, but could not match a face to it. However, a single word struck out at her, that seemed to be both comforting, and yet disturbing. _Sss... sis..ter...  
_  
Then, just as the word cleared in her head, a new image appeared before her. Machines, and hundreds of them, running, leaping, swarming all over, cutting people off from sight, cutting the voice out, pulling everything from her. A few seemed to be looking at her, and surrounded her, blocking everyone else, but the screaming was just as vivid, as was the fire and the smell of blood. As the machines closed in, so that all was drowned from sight, a laughter, cruel, vile, and hating, overpowering everything- the people, the machines, the fire, the blood, the and the screaming- and replaced it all with a sickness far beyond them, a sickness that felt as if it could revolt even the soul.

As quickly as it came, the laughter left, as it was shattered so much more violently than before as a metallic roar blasted into Cosmo's ear, the sudden shock causing her to lose her balance and fall over sideways. She looked up- the man stood directly over her, and had just reactivated the spikes of the paddle right next to her ear. The sound was almost loud enough to bust an eardrum at such a close range. Cosmo, in her panic, quickly stumbled to her feet and continued her run in the same direction as before, leaving the man laughing almost hysterically behind her.  
She continued to run, for what seemed to be even longer than before. The buzzing of the man's weapon was faint, bur stubbornly remained within her earshot. _He's bigger than me. He's older than me. He's faster than me._ The thoughts came slowly, bringing tears to her eyes. _There's no chance I can get away.  
_  
The woods seemed to be thinning out. Where there used to be trees, there now appeared rocks. Not a minute after the change in scenery, her feet carried her to a large drop-off. The very top of a large cliff. A dead-end, in a sense, and going down was not an option. She leaned over and peered down the cliff at the rocks below. Many formed into menacing stalagmites and the overall drop posed by the precipice was sharply vertical. _I can't survive a fall like that..._ She didn't even have to turn to hear the buzzing. _He's coming... I'm stuck..._ She looked down at the ground in front of her, facing the cliff, and couldn't hold the tears back. _I'm going to die. There's nothing I can do. He's going to kill me._  
"End of the road, Sarpecian."

Cosmo turned around toward the man, her back to the cliff. "So, little witch," he taunted, swinging his weapon from side to side, "explain to me why you are spending your last moments crying when they should be sent praying?"

"W-why do you want to kill me!" she screamed, overcoming the roar of the paddle.  
He paused for a brief moment and shook his head. "Good question. Perhaps you should already know."

"...What?"

"So here's an idea." His expression gave an uncharacteristic change from sadistic to pure anger, as if steeped in the purest of hatred for her entire being. "Why don't you ask the other little abominations..."  
In a swift movement, he lifted his leg up and placed it straight in the middle of Cosmo's chest. "IN HELL!"

And he pushed.

She was awake, but didn't exactly remember what had just happened. Cosmo looked around, dazedly acknowledging the rocks. They seemed to be all that were here. There didn't seem to be any questions to ask, or anyone to ask them to. In fact, she herself felt rather blank.

Cosmo twisted to the side, and all feeling suddenly came back to her at once, mainly an excruciatingly sharp pain through her right leg as she attempted to move it, the shock forcing a loud scream out of her. She dug her nails into the soil around her, attempting to relieve the pain, looked down at her leg and, through her tears, was able to make out the basic outline of a large stone, larger than she was, maladroitly across it.

After a moment the pain seemed to dull, and she slowly placed both hands on the rock and pushed. It barely moved, but the slightest movement seemed to send another jolt up her leg, and she left it where it sat, groaning at the intense burning it gave her.

Continuing her study of the local terrain, she looked up. A sheer rock wall towered just above her. _This rock must have fallen from it..._ _Oh!_ The scene which had just taken place flashed before her, the look of utter hatred on the perplexing man's face as he placed his foot on her chest and pushed her... _down here..._

He could be back any moment!  
  
Cosmo gave her leg a quick tug, attempting to slide it from its stone prison. Instead she heard, and especially felt, a loud crack come from it, and the pain swept back up, far worse than before. She lay back flat on the ground and covered her face, sobbing like an infant, her leg burning in anguish. The pain was unbearable, and worse, unrelenting.

Just as her leg began to relax once more, the sound of footsteps from in front caught her attention. Cosmo moved her hands to see who it was, and, just as before, began her struggle for freedom. The man, unfortunately, had returned.

He was dragging the paddle along in the gravel, and his personality seemed to have swapped back to its previous sadism. "You're _still _alive? You just refuse to die, don't you!"

She was still attempting to move the stone, but just as before, the torment it inflicted upon her leg forced her to leave it alone, trying her hardest, but failing, to avoid shedding any tears in the pain.

He chuckled at the sight. "Things just don't work out too well for you, do they?" He slowly began walking in circles around her, beating the weapon against his hand. "Such a shame. Those poor fools will have no idea. They'll look for days, but never find you."

Cosmo looked up at him in fear. "What-"

"Eventually, they will, of course, but it will have been _far _too late. Years, perhaps, considering that we're this deep into the woods. That part is already decided. Perhaps you should have considered the danger of wandering so far on your own? Now, the only decision to make is a simple multiple choice. Do I : A, kill you here and now where you sit so that I may return to camp? B, leave here, return to camp, and let you die of natural causes?" He circled around in front of her and leaned in so his face was inches from hers. "Or C, enjoy the sound of you screaming in this torture so much that I decide to take part in it, slowly dissecting your every limb and organ until you die... slowly?"

Cosmo sat perfectly still, petrified at the suggestions.

He leaned back and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cube with different symbols on it-likely the foreign equivalent to a dice block. "One and two will be A, three and four will be B, and five and six will be C." He held his hand out and dropped it in front of her. The two watched it tumble a little until it stopped, and he scoffed at the result. "Such a shame. Two."

He lifted the paddle into the air and the spikes began to vibrate at their near-invisible speed. Cosmo closed her eyes, resigning herself to what she could only deem to be her fate.

Rather than the quick swipe she expected, she instead heard a loud metallic _clang_, followed by a ear-splitting, prolonged racket that sounded as if an automatic machine had been jammed. She opened her eyes, but her vision was blocked by a flash of brownish fur. The man roared aloud as if enraged, and within seconds he was a significant distance away, engaged in combat by a large, weasel-like creature.  
The man's paddle was, indeed, jammed. The animal's claws were held in an X shape and locked against it, blocking the vibrating spikes from their movement. The assailant's expressions were reddening with outright frustration, while the animal seemed to be far more relaxed. They held this position for over a minute before, with a clean swipe, the animal knocked the paddle away and across the ground.  
The man looked over at his weapon, then at Cosmo, then at the animal, yelled a few indistinguishable words, then stormed over to it and retrieved it.

He stared directly upward, his silver jacket unfolding from around him into two pairs of butterfly-like wings, insanely decorated with strands of a beautiful silvery thread and curving into hooks along the edges, completely contradicting the rest of the individual. With a single flap, his four wings lifted him a good altitude off the ground and over the cliff, completely disappearing from sight. The animal, a scope cupped around his left eye, watched him as he flew away, sighed, and turned back toward Cosmo, casually stepping over to her.

"Please, what's going on? Tell me!" Cosmo continued to watch him in fear as he stepped over and crouched down next to her, surprisingly wearing a gentle smile.

It cocked its head to the side with a light growl. "Ket?" Not an English word.

"...What?"

The animal straightened its head, its smile reshaping into a look of concern. "Kirell?"

"Um..."

"Mmm...Sarti?" The animal's voice was slowly gaining hints of frustration.

"I don't..."

"Speak?" It cocked its head again.

Cosmo jumped at a word she finally understood. "S-speak what?"

It made a few odd hand signals while speaking. "You...speak...Terran?"

"Terran? What's that?"

"What...you...speak." He shook his head. "Me...know little...Terran. Sorry."  
It took her a few seconds to understand, but she finally nodded with apprehension. "It's okay." She glanced at the cliff, no sign of the unusual assailant visible. "Thank you! For helping me."

It didn't answer, but rather continued its smile, its lens somehow folding into a headband. "Here." It placed both arms around the stone across her leg, and casually lifted it off and tossed it aside. The pain induced by the pressure change was the worst yet. The moment he moved it, hell itself seemed to target her leg, and she fell over sideways screaming in pain and clutching her knee. The animal carefully placed a hand around her leg, pushing on her knee with the other. "Bad," he said to himself, under Cosmo's cries. "Here," he said, lifting Cosmo up by her arms and slinging her over his shoulder. "Hurts bad, but be better." He stepped over to the sheer rock wall and began his climb, carrying the crying girl with him.


	5. Chapter 5

The three were now together, all sat in the corner with their hands bound behind their backs(and Sonic's legs bound by more of the same), and no noticeable way of escape. Tails was silent, Knuckles was still out of it, and Sonic simply sulked, a bandage around his head that Spyke "graciously" gave him. The assailant had left the room and closed and locked the door behind him from the outside, purposely busting the inside lock at the same time.

"That _pipe!_" Sonic exclaimed for no apparent reason.

"Sonic, please, not again." Tails moaned, not wanting to listen to the hedgehog continue his tireless complaining.

"That damn pipe!" He gave his arms a quick jerk, not able to remove his wrists from each other. "If he had only held a fair fight! If he hadn't used that smoke bomb! If he hadn't ripped out that damn _pipe!_"  
Tails had already begun lightly knocking his head against the wall. Sonic had been doing this for the past hour. "I would have had him! That cheap, dirty, filthy, no-good..."

Tails didn't bother attempting to stop him. After he had finished this section of ranting, he was finally able to speak. "Sonic, it happened. You can't change that. Try to...I don't know, take your mind off it."

Sonic sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Right... I wonder if Cosmo's alright."

Tails, surprisingly, didn't look worried. "I'm sure she is."

"How can you be sure?"

"Did you listen to that speech Spyke gave us? He said he was from GMF. I may not know what GMF is, but it I'd guess that they're pretty well organized, well known, and I think well liked. I don't think they'll hurt her, especially considering the state of mind she's in."

A single sigh in response. "Let's hope you're right."

Another hour passed. Knuckles seemed to be coming to. He was beginning to stir, and was mumbling something about smoke... Sonic grinned at his half-conscious form. "Tails, think one of us should help him wake up?"

"I don't know about that-"

Before he could answer, Sonic reared his head back and cracked it against Knuckles', knocking him over, but shooting his eyes open. Knuckles, in response, threw his own body back up and smashed his head back into Sonic's, knocking him over in the same fashion. "WELL? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?"

Sonic groaned from down on the floor. "I think Knuckles is awake..."

Another hour, or at least it felt like another hour. Time was getting hard to tell. Knuckles, in his ignorance, had completely convinced himself that he could break the bands apart. He had been trying since ten minutes after his wake-up, and he still seemed to have found no luck. His face was turning as red as the rest of his body as the stress built up. His entire body began to quiver as he attempted to pull his arms outward.

Sonic spoke up, attempting to right himself off the floor from the headbutt. "Knuckles, give it a break."

"I'M...TRYING...TO...!"

"That's not what I meant. Give it a _rest._"

He gave one last jerk, then leaned back against the wall for a breather. "Hey, at least I'm actually _trying _to get us out of here! What are _you _doing? Nothing!"

"That's not true!" Sonic gave his legs a quick kick, flipping himself over. "I'm wriggling like a worm, trying to get back up! No thanks to you."

Knuckles sighed. "Hey, you headbutted me first. You just got what was comin' to you."

A few minutes of silence, then both hedgehog and echidna spoke simultaneously: "That damn smoke bomb!"

Tails' ear twitched. "Guys, hush up a second!"

Knuckles looked back over to him with abrupt annoyance. "What was that?"

"No, don't you hear that?" Sonic said, then kicked again, putting himself flat on his face.

Tails managed to stand back up and walk over to the door, pressing his ear against it. Spyke's monotone voice could be heard from the other side, and he apparently had company.

Spyke's voice. "So that's it? There's nothing?"

A new voice, which seemed quiet and calm. "I scanned the area. Technology here isn't exactly slow, but they haven't reached the Stellar Period yet. They're Pre-Stellar."

"Damn. How far out of the way are we?"

"Well, we weren't supposed to land anywhere in this sector. Not even in this system. Gravity and solar winds are to blame for that, I suppose. We've been dragged far out of the way. It's no wonder it took so long."

"Are there any intergalactic trade routes situated through this system?"

"Very few, and I feel the few that are are mostly deserted."

There was a brief pause, then a thud in the wall. Spyke had probably punched it. "Damn..."

The newer voice seemed hopeful. "I think there may be one more possibility."

"...What is it?"

"Although this planet is Pre-Stellar, the tech pilfered from my storage was mostly consistent of power sources and various batteries, more than strong enough to power the engines on a ship. That massive energy surge we detected was most likely the tech being used, which means that they might possibly be building a ship already."

Tails, although still bound, silent, and only listening, had to smile.

Spyke's voice again. "...Are you seriously suggesting that we ask _them?_ They're thieves!"

"But at least one of them must know what he's doing."

Tails' smile grew.

"There have got to be other options!"

"Such as?"

"Well..."

"Yajus, this planet is backwater. There is _very _little traffic through this system. Even if we send out a distress call, the chances of someone coming by and receiving it are minimal at best. It'll take a long time before GMF notices that we haven't checked in and sends a probe out to find us. You know how those things aren't equipped with Star Lane Drives, it'll take forever for it to get anywhere! And even after it finally locates us it will have to make a return trip to deliver the message, and then GMF will have to get a time slot open to prepare a Scavenger to come and pick us up. We're looking at an estimated 33 cycles, here."

"...Damn."

"So, if you're so looking forward to getting out of here, then stop giving _me _grief and ask _them!_" Silence for a second, then followed again by the new voice. "If you feel the need for a better incentive, every moment we waste here is time we could spend tracking the Bolt."

"...Alright, I'll ask them."

Tails stepped back away from the wall and crouched down back in his corner. Seconds later, the door lock clicked and the door swung open, Spyke slowly stepping in.

"Anything the matter, Yajus?" Tails remarked with surprising sarcasm.

Spyke looked amused, rather than angry. "Alright, fox, I'm going to assume you've been listening in. Am I right?"

Tails shrugged. "Possibly."

"Then I also assume that you heard that we're in need of a ship. Do you have one?" Tails remained silent. "I didn't think so."

As Spyke turned to leave, Tails spoke back up. "Assume that I have." He stopped and turned back around. "What would you do with it?"

"So you have one?" The plated character impatiently folded his arms.

"What would you do with it?"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes!"

Spyke smiled again. "Thank goodness. Then we'll buy it off you."

"It's not for sale!" Tails gave a hurt expression from the very notion.

"Alright then, we'll borrow it and give it back."

"Not what I-"

"With loaning rates attached. Good deal, right?" He sounded, for all the world, like a salesman.

"No!"

"Where is it?"

"I-I'm not telling you!"

"Why not?"

Sonic interjected, forcing himself to roll over. "Well, maybe it has something to do with the fact that we're handcuffed, Cosmo's gone, you forced me and Knuckles into a fight, and I'm laying on the ground, wriggling like a worm!"

"Sounds to me like we shouldn't trust you," Tails finished.

Spyke stood for a moment, apparently thinking. Suddenly, he turned and stepped out the door, and returned with what looked to be a small firearm in hand. "Alright, do you three see this?" He held it up into the air, aiming at the wall.

The three nodded, a little unnerved at the wild swings he was beginning to make with it.

"It's basically a stun pistol. One shot from this thing is enough to temporarily force all the muscles in your body to tense up, making it difficult to move at all. It's perfectly safe, as long as you don't have a pacemaker."

"What about it?"

He quietly sighed, discontent with the words he was beginning to speak. "I'm going to release the three of you now. But if any of you try to start a fight or make a run for it, I'll have you twitching on the floor in seconds. Before you ask, as I'm sure the overly-violent, aggressive, and pride-filled red one will, I didn't use this on you before due to GMF Article 6 of the Native Preservation: Insuring Native Ignorance to Foreign Technology. Official regulations." He stuck the weapon back into his belt. "You never saw this. And I don't need some sort of legal lawsuit on my hands."

"I-what?" Knuckles cocked his head to the side and made a confused look.

He groaned, scratching the back of his head. "Look, I couldn't use this because I wasn't allowed to, alright? Just leave it at that."

Spyke stuck a small needle into a hole in Sonic's bands, unlocking them from each other. The hedgehog hopped to his feet and stretched both arms out. The copper-plated creature eyed him suspiciously. "And that's the last one," he finished, sticking the wire back in his belt and stepping out the door. "Follow me, and remember what happens if you attempt to run."

The three shrugged at one another and followed him single file out the door, through the hall, and outside.

After they were all outside, Spyke turned to Tails. "Alright, you're out. Now, show me your ship." Tails opened his mouth to object, but was quickly cut off. "Wait, before that, show me what you did with our _tech_. By now I'm certain that you're the one who took it."

Tails glanced at Sonic, then back at Spyke. "I'm afraid I used it all up."

He raised an eyebrow. "'Used it all up?' I highly doubt that."

"It's true. It all fell apart during the regeneration process, and-"

He raised an arm. "Whoa, wait a moment. Regeneration? Regenerating what? What are you, some kind of necromancer?" He looked around at the landscape, then shrugged. "Look, don't tell me, just show me. Save the explanation."

Tails led the group over to a large dome-shaped building, covered on all sides by heavy steel and neglectfully painted. He pushed open the door with both hands, stepping inside the dim room. Spyke entered last, behind the three, and gaped at the sight before him. The entire complex of machinery all in pieces and fallen apart, safely contained behind a large glass divide, lay before them. Many random cables stretched from the ruins across the floor and, in the center of the room, rested a cylindrical pod, the only piece that wasn't in shoddy condition.

Spyke's eyes darted from side to side, paying special attention to every detail. "This...is what you did with our tech?"

Tails nodded slightly. "Yes. Mainly the batteries and a few power sources. There were a few things I didn't completely understand, so I had to compensate a little."

Sonic smiled widely, stepping over to the fox and placing an arm across his shoulder. "That's Tails for you! Always tinkering with something. And sometimes it actually pays off!"

The kitsune, ignoring the majority of the compliment, picked up on a single word. "Sometimes?"  
Spyke slowly shook his head in disbelief. "This...this is major." He glanced at the fox, who looked back. "To think, someone your age could build...this?" He quickly turned to Sonic. "And you! Your name _is _Sonic, isn't it?"

"...Yeah, I think it is."

He stared at him thoughtfully for a few seconds before continuing. His voice came out in a whisper. "'Known by the Letangs as the Approaching Nightmare...'"

The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "The what?"

He smiled. "'Fastest creature on two legs.'"

Noticing the compliment, he folded his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. "Ah, so you've heard of me?"

His smile faded. "Alright, the chances of this meeting are so slim, I need a quick check."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that a lightning-speed hedgehog named Sonic engaged in battle with a genocidal race known as the Metarex. Is this correct?" The three glanced at one another, surprised at the stranger's knowledge of such an event.

Before Sonic could answer, Tails intervened. "Yes, it's true. It's also the very same reason I built this." He motioned his arm toward the wreckage.

Spyke shook his head again. "To think, I'd get to meet a legend like yourself. Quite a bang-up job you did on the Metarex, by the way."

"Well, I-"

"I can't believe it took me so long to actually recognize you, even after hearing your name! Proves what can happen to one's common sense in the heat of battle."

Knuckles had begun waving his arms around behind Spyke's head. "Hey, don't I get any praise? It's not like he was the only one out there, you know!"

Spyke glanced over his shoulder at the echidna. "And who exactly are you, again?"

Ceasing the arm-waving, Knuckles slowly shook his head. "Really. You don't know?"

He slowly shook his head. "Um...no? Can't say that I do?"

"You _seriously _don't know?"

"Can't say so."

"_Not even an honorable mention_!"

"...Nope."

"COME ON!" He purposely cracked himself in the head with his own fist. "NOTHING AT ALL! Sonic even got a cool nickname! 'Approaching Nightmare!' And what do _I _get? WHAT DO I GET?"

"...An...attitude?"

He didn't even bother answering and stormed outside.

"Alright, Spyke, you're really starting to confuse me." Sonic stepped away from the wall to look out the door. Knuckles was swinging punches at an imaginary enemy while swearing under his breath. "First you sick your lackeys on us, then you fight us, you tie us up, you let us go, you demand a ship, and now you're suddenly complimenting us like a fanboy? What exactly are you after?"

As Spyke opened his mouth to answer, a buzz came from his belt, and he pulled his radio out it. "Yes? What is it?"

A woman's voice answered. "We have located the girl. Any further orders?"

He straightened himself up as he replied. "Yes, I'll send you the coordinates of our whereabouts. Send her and Cloudy here. I think I have something he needs to see."

"Cloudy's not with you?"

"No, I sent him back. He should be arriving any moment."

"Affirmative." The voice quieted, then abruptly added, "However, the girl can't walk at the moment-"

"WHAT?" Tails took a large step toward Spyke, reaching for the radio.

Spyke took a step back out of his reach, leering at the fox. "What happened? Is she hurt?"

"She'd better not be!" Tails looked about ready to make a lunge for the device.

"Apparently, she's Sarpecian," the woman answered. "and she had a run-in with Jeckres."

Spyke groaned loudly, beating himself in the head with the radio. "Is she alright?" he asked after finishing.

"Fortunately, Zhagohst showed up. She got off lucky. Her leg was crushed by a boulder, however-"

"She WHAT?"

Spyke placed an arm in the frantic fox's chest. "Calm down! Seriously, I can't hold a conversation with you around!"

Tails simply stared him in the eye without an answer.

The woman's tone turned curious. "...Yajus, who's with you?"

He turned his attention back to the device. "Natives. Now what were you saying?"

"Oh, her leg was crushed by a small boulder, but it's nothing Cloudy can't fix."

Tails breathed a sigh of relief, but the idea of Cosmo pinned under a rock haunted him. "So she's alright? Is she!"

The voice continued. "I'll probably have to keep her here. Zhagohst, too. No telling when Jeckres might show up."

"Good idea."

He placed the radio back in his belt, then pulled out a small disk, pressed a few small buttons on it, and returned it. "I'll guess that's your girl Cosmo?"

"So she _is _alright?" Tails was beginning to sound violent.

"Yeah, well, considering the circumstances. A broken leg is bad, but Cloudy can fix that up in a few vells."

"And what about this 'Jeckres' guy? What did he do to her?" He practically hissed the name with the same tone one might address a disease.

Spyke shook his head in disapproval. "Jeckres... Unfortunately, he is one of my comrades."

"Then why would he hurt Cosmo?"

Unlike the Spyke that they had already grown used to disliking, he had suddenly turned quiet and somber, as if hearing a relative had died. "Unfortunately, he's totally out of control. He's violent, sadistic, hateful, has no respect for authority, and attempts to pick fights wherever he is able. On top of all of that he's a Kemao."

Tails growled in frustration. He hadn't received any concrete answers as of yet. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Kemao's and Sarpecians never get along. In fact, it's appropriate to say that they despise one another."

Still no acceptable answers. "What's a Sarpecian!"

"Apparently, your Cosmo."

"No she isn't, she's a Seedrian!"

The final word turned the Yajus rigid. He slowly looked the kitsune in the eye with a glare sharp enough that it may have hurt.. "What? Are you serious?"

He quickly nodded. "_Yes._"

He shook his head in denial. "A Seedrian? But they're all gone, aren't they?"

"No-"

"Yes, of course they are. The Metarex saw to that."

"Well, she is-"

"Of course, there was always that rumor that there was one left, but it also stated that she died in battle against them."

Tails spun around and stepped over to the wall, giving it a hard kick. Never, not even from Knuckles, had someone been this hard to talk to before. "Spyke, you're probably the only person on this planet who wouldn't have gotten it by now! That's her!"

The Yajus looked around the room at the scattered parts, putting two and two together. "So that's what you meant by 'regeneration'. You mean you've actually brought back someone from the dead?"

"I guess you could say that."

"So you pretty much _are _some sort of necromancer?" He chuckled, folding his arms. "So what's it like to play the role of the creator?"

Sonic lazily raised his hand. "Hold up, who's this Cloudy you've been saying? He can fix broken bones?"

Spyke groaned and scratched his head. "More and more questions... Cloudy is our tech and science Jaynu. He handles the equipment and most medical procedures. He'll fix her leg up. Of course, the longer we take over here, the longer she'll have to go without."

"Then never mind getting him over here!" Tails quickly reached at Spyke's belt and pulled the radio out himself. "Keep him over there and take care of her!"

Spyke snatched the device back with a malicious glare. "Fine, if she's that important." He spoke into it.

"Jaynu?"

The woman's voice responded. "Yes, Yajus?"

"Has Cloudy arrived?"

"He just did, yes."

"Tell him to wait there and take care of the girl. We'll meet you at the camp."

"Affirmative."

Cosmo lay in a long, violet, glass tube that rested on the soft grass outside. The tube was connected to one of multiple large, metallic pods that were piled up against a large boulder. Sitting over her was a curious creature. It seemed somewhat like a feline, and had pale fur all over. It's ears were both pointed and pierced, a black ring through both. It was wearing a large, dark green coat that seemed full of pockets, its eyes were quick, glancing back and forth between her and a monitor on the side of the pod, and its hands were blurred across a keyboard beside it. "So, I acknowledge that you took a tumble down a precipice, did you not?"

"A...precipice?"

He rolled his eyes. "A cliff."

"Oh...yes." She quietly noted the smugness in his voice, as if already giving the impression that she was inferior.

He continued typing for a long minute. "Did Jeckres see it through?"

She moved both hands together and slowly pulled them apart, imitating the small rod that grew into the malicious paddle that had come so close to finishing her. "That man with the spikey thing?"

"Correct."

"Yes...yes he did."

More typing, followed by a half-amused chuckle. "Don't take it seriously. He's just bitter."

She sat straight up, accidentally bumping her head on the ceiling of the pod. "'Don't take it seriously?'" She absently rubbed her now-sore forehead. "He tried to kill me!"

"It's in his nature. After all, he is a Kemao. You know the story."

"What story?"

His eyes swiftly glanced at her, motioning the floor of the pod. "If you would, please lay back down." He laid his eyes back on the monitor as she followed instructions. "It's rather difficult to get a full-body scan if you keep changing your position."

"What story?" she repeated, attempting to make herself comfortable

He chuckled again with the same apparent smugness. "I guess they kept all the war stories out of your head, didn't they?"

"War stories?"

"Kemaos. Sarpecians. War between them that's lasted for the better halve of GMF history."

She only picked up on the single word. "What's a Sarpecian? That man...kept calling me one."

For once, he quit typing altogether. "You aren't serious, are you?" She slowly nodded, and he miserably shook his head in response. "You are, kid. Man, your parents must not have told you very much for you to be so ignorant, even at this age."

"Then...is a Seedrian the same thing as a Sarpecian?"

"Pardon? No, but I guess their similar. Why?"

"Tails said I'm a 'Seedrian'. That I was the only one."

He stared at her for a few long seconds before returning to his keyboard, his expression containing a look of curiosity. "Hold on, let me check that." He continued his speed-typing, and the violet color of the pod turned a light blue, then returned to its normal color. "You can't be serious!" he yelled to nobody in particular as a 3-D wire-frame of Cosmo appeared on his monitor. The word "Seedrian" was labeled beneath it in large, black letters.

"What is it?" she asked, slightly taken off-guard by his abrupt reaction.

"You!" He leaned back in his chair, laughing in what seemed like joy. "You really are one! Excellent! This is just great!"

"Why's it great?"

"'Cause you all are supposed to be gone! The Metarex wiped you all out, didn't they? All but one, it seems! Hahaha!"

Cosmo closed her eyes, thinking on what he had said. _The Metarex wiped us out?_ She recalled the images from earlier of the machines, the people screaming, the blood and the fire. _The machines... They must be Metarex._ She opened her eyes, wishing to ask another question, something about the Metarex, but couldn't find a way to word it. Eventually, she forced herself to give up with a sigh. "Um, mister?" He was still almost unable to keep calm, laughing and clapping in utmost excitement. "Mister?"

More clapping and laughter.

"_Mister?_"

Her tone suddenly pulled him to attention, and his unsettling outburst ended just as abruptly. "Oh, yes?" Just as she opened her mouth to continue, he cut her off. "Don't call me 'Mister'. Call me Cloudy."

"Okay, Cloudy, could-"

"And what's your name?"

_Would you please let me speak? _"...Cosmo," she calmly answered.

"Well, it's good to meet you, Cosmo! The last Seedrian: Cosmo! What a title!"

After waiting several moments to ensure he was finally finished talking, she continued. "Cloudy? Sorry to be selfish, but could you get back to my leg?" She shifted the leg slightly and a sharp pain raced through it. "It still hurts."

"Oh, of course!" He typed a few more keys, then leaned back. "I almost forgot! This is a big discovery, after all! Okay, I need you to relax."

"What for?"

"That little pod is about to fill with gas. It won't hurt you, but it will put you to sleep. It's best if you aren't conscious while we fix you up."

"Wh-what?" She began squirming from side to side as the pod's floor began to hiss loudly. "Stop it! Turn it off! Please!" Her simple squirming quickly turned into fierce thrashing as the pod slowly began filling with a pink haze.

"Calm down, kid! Seriously, it's harmless. No need to seem so claustrophobic."

Ignoring his advice, she sat up in the pod, pushing on the ceiling, but to no avail. Afterward, she began beating on the wall toward Cloudy. "Please, turn it off! Let me out!"

"Give it a rest! Just close your eyes and calm down, you are okay!"

"So you knew about the Metarex?" Sonic asked, ducking under a tree branch. The four of them hiked through the woods toward Tails' astronomy location. There was about a mile of distance left for them to cover, deemed the shortest route by the Yajus.

Spyke followed behind the other three. "I knew. All of GMF knew. We were going to do something about them, but we had our hands full at the time." His voice seemed rather faint, so the three waited until he caught up. He seemed rather slow in movement in comparison.

"You've said 'GMF' over and over again, and insulted me when I asked what that is." Sonic stepped over in front of him, blocking his path. "So, without the remark, what is GMF?"

Spyke stepped around him and kept moving, and the hedgehog followed behind. "GMF... originally stands for 'Genevous Malevadar Forseta.' The surnames of our three founders. Most people these days believe it to be, and refer to it as, 'Galactic Military Forces,' which isn't really that far off from what we actually do."

Knuckles ripped down a branch and begun swinging it around like a weapon, imagining himself whacking the Yajus upside the head with it. "So you're military?"

"Something like that. Not exactly. Military typically heavily trains their people and protects nations or planets. GMF will accept just about anybody who's not a convicted criminal, and will work to handle just about any type of problem, big or small. Age doesn't even matter that much when it comes to recruits. If they're young, we attempt to train them in certain medical fields. But I guess that our main job is to ensure peace in this galaxy from all threats, especially worlds that have given us their loyalty. Everything else is side work."

Tails stopped walking altogether and stared at him. "So if you were supposed to be taking care of things, where were you when the Metarex arrived? If you had nipped it in the bud at the beginning, you would have saved a lot of grief!" His words held a surprising amount of conviction and apparent anger. "Us, and entire civilizations that were lost!"

Spyke stopped next to him, and the cease of movement from half the party convinced the other two to stop with them. "We were busy, I'll have you know."

"Busy doing what? What could possibly be more important than keeping those creeps at bay!"

He didn't answer.

"'I'll have you know that _we _were busy taking care of them! So many planets were sucked dry because they were allowed to roam around! So many people died in the process, and you just _LET THEM?_ Cosmo's entire family-no, her entire _race _was hunted down by them and killed! Not just them, but so many others! And you were just _busy_?"

Still no answer.

Tails was on the verge of tears. "She shouldn't have had to go through with that. She shouldn't have had to put up with that type of pain! To see all your loved ones chopped down in front of you..." He couldn't hold the tears back, and they flowed freely, the images of people being killed left and right that Cosmo had, on multiple occasions, inadvertently made him think of. "_NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH WITH THAT!"_

"DO YOU THINK IT WAS SO EASY FOR ME!" Spyke lunged forward, gripping the kitsune's throat with a single hand, his voice far more hostile than ever before, and a grimace of anger and sorrow marking his face. "_YOU THINK SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD TO WATCH FAMILY DIE OFF? THERE WERE TRILLIONS!" _Upon realizing exactly exactly what position he was holding, he removed his hand from the fox, stepping away. After a moment of silence, Spyke continued. "The Metarex were vicious... But they weren't the only ones..."

"Not the only ones?" Sonic repeated, glancing at the kitsune who seemed completely unaffected by the Yajus' sudden outbirst. "Who else was there?"

He looked up at the small cracks of light that peeked through the canopy. "He had already been around for a long while, but had never attacked anything...well, except for two exceptions. He was inspired by the Metarex. Their cruel methods of removing a Planet Egg coupled with the Letangs' catastrophic slash-and-burn style inspired his own methods of attacking planets. Dareth Wildson..."

Sonic only raised an eyebrow.

"Dareth used to be a friend of mine, before he turned into a genocidal nightmare... I still don't know what he's planning on accomplishing by mercilessly killing, but he seems to know."

Tails' voice had calmed down to almost a whisper. "So, you mean all those destroyed planets weren't caused by the Metarex?"

"About...half of them, maybe. He wasn't even trying. Dareth seems to kill and kill for the sake of killing, and now I can' even recognize the man I used to know. He rushes in, eradicates all military, forces the population into slavery, mines all the minerals out, then bombs the planet on his way out. If he feels like it. He's been thumbing his nose at GMF for such a long time, and after the Metarex made their first move, it seems he sprung into action. He's had an army assembled for a very long time."

Sonic looked at both the kitsune and echidna, who each shared the same shocked expression marking his own features. "Then why haven't we heard of him until _now?_"

"You must have been too busy handling the Metarex. They and Dareth were working on opposite sides of the galaxy. Maybe you were too far away." He continued walking, and the rest followed. "Besides, he had only attacked trade ships and merchants before, occasionally scout ships. And two planets. But after the Metarex showed up, he began assaulting everything- trade ships, GMF ships, planets, stars- he forcefully made a star collapse into a black hole once- and...well, you name it. For a simple rebel, he's gathered an entire army that actually outnumbers, outmaneuvers, outguns, outclasses, and outranks us by a five-to-one margin. At this point, we're desperate."

They continued their walk in silence, each pondering what had been said. After a few minutes, Sonic spoke up. "It's still hard to believe that we haven't heard of this 'Dareth' until now. And he's seriously _that _dangerous?"

Spyke nodded silently.

"Do you think..." Tails half-whispered, "...that he'll come here?"

The Yajus confidently shook his head. "Not likely. This planet is far out of the way. To come here would be too much of a bother for him."

"That's good..."

"But there are still other people out there suffering. The longer we spend on Mobius, the more time we waste that could have been spent locating Dareth. And the Bolt."

"Bolt?"

"Our ship. Dareth stole it."

The four stopped and looked up as a large shadow draped over them. The dark-haired man swooped in from the sky and landed in front of them, large, translucent, silver butterfly wings sprouting from his back.

"JECKRES!" Spyke stormed over to the man, who stood unfazed by his outbirst. "Jeckres, I have _had it _with you! I am _sick _of your attitude, your mouth, your lack of respect, your inability to do as your told, and, most of all, your cruel mistreatment of Sarpecians!"

Jeckres brushed some nonexistent dirt from his shoulder as his wings folded back into a jacket. "Are you just going to rant some more? You're wasting your breath. The girl's fine. Zhagohst cut in."

"Shut up! Don't you have _any _respect at all?"

"To those that prove respect-worthy."

"Have you forgotten our situation? We have no time to be attacking natives! In fact, there's a good chance we'll be needing their help!"

He scoffed. "Help? From a Sarpecian? From a Sarpecian her age? I doubt it."

"Well, perhaps you didn't know that maybe that _wasn't _a Sarpecian?"

Another scoff. "Looked Sarpecian to me. Either way, I'm sure everyone would be better off without her..."

Tails was shaking in anger as Jeckres spoke. It was as if each word that came from his mouth was a direct insult to him and everything he stood for. _He doesn't even know her and he tries to kill her! She's not even a 'Sarpecian', he's mistaken!_

Through his thoughts, Tails heard Spyke yell a few words, ending with "Seedrian." Jeckres' eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. "Seedrian, Sarpecian, little difference. Just like the rest of those maggots, she still deserves to die-"

Tails cut him off with a loud scream as he yanked the tree branch out of Knuckles' hands and swung it in a half-circle. Spyke ducked the moment he heard the scream, expecting it on some level or another, and the wooden mass smashed against the intended target's head. Jeckres staggered backward, one hand on the point of impact, his other reaching into his jacket. He pulled out the small rod, and in a quick series of button-pressing shaped it into the familiar spiked paddle. Before he had even recovered and had the blades moving, both musclemen had sprung into action- Spyke already had a grip on his wrist and Knuckles went to work at prying his fingers open. After a minute of struggling, Jeckres swung with his free hand, clipping Spyke across the face, sending him staggering backward a few paces.

Sonic stepped up, ready to join the brawl, but was stopped as Spyke placed a hand on his chest. "Hold on a minute. I want to see what this guy can do."

Jeckres and Knuckles seemed to be at a stalemate, both pulling on the handle of the weapon like children fighting over candy. It seemed just as pathetic, too. Slowly, Knuckles seemed to be gaining an advantage, and eventually began pushing him back, step by step. He shoved him so that his back was against a tree, with Knuckles practically on top of him. Then, with a smug smirk, Jeckres shot his leg out, kicking him straight in the stomach. Knuckles released his grip on the weapon, giving Jeckres time to press a final button, sending the spikes into a dangerous vibration. "Off with his head!" He swung the paddle once horizontally, which Knuckles nimbly ducked under.

Seizing his opportunity, Knuckles ducked down low as Jeckres recovered from the swing, then sprang back up, uppercutting him in the jaw. The shock of the blow released Jeckres' grip on the paddle, bouncing the back of his head off the tree and placing him flat on his stomach. After a few moments, Jeckres...was motionless.

"Well, good job, Knuckles!" Spyke clapped a couple of times. "I'm impressed! Not just anyone can beat him in a fight! You knocked him clean out! And he didn't even touch you." Knuckles acknowledged the compliment, kissing both fists. "Don't let it get to your head, though. You still lost to me, remember?"

The echidna typically turned defensive. "Hey, I would have won _hands down _if you hadn't whipped out that smoke bomb! Cheater! Hold a _fair_ fight!"

Spyke, rather than answering the challenge, turned back to Tails, who was still fuming. "Although I guess that was _technically _assault, I don't think anyone's going to care." He plucked the branch from the kitsune's hands and dropped it on Jeckres' unconscious figure. "I'm sure he'll come to in a bit. You going to be alright?"

He took a few more breaths, closing his eyes. This was rare. It was not in his nature to get so violent, and just after a few things that were simply _said. _"Yeah, I'll...I'll be alright."

The four stepped out of the thicket and into the large clearing dominated by the gentle hill. Tails' telescope still sat up at the top, making a friendly landmark. The day was starting to come to a close, and the sky had turned a burnt orange. Down at the bottom of the hill were the crumpled up pods from before, now accompanied by a large collection of various cables and mechanics pouring out of every hole. The entire place seemed to have become a base over a few short days.

Tails' eyes widened as he saw Cosmo, asleep in a violet tube. A peculiar pale, furry creature sat next to it, constantly hitting keys on an attached keyboard.

"There he goes," Sonic breathed, watching as the fox ran down the hill toward the pod. "Can't really blame him, though. So, these are your pods?"

Spyke nodded, folding his arms. "Yep. We were forced out of our own ship, had to take escape pods."

"You said your ship is called the 'Bolt'?"

"Correct. Dareth ambushed us. We didn't have time to get the systems ready, and he easily overpowered us."

He nodded with simple understanding. "Which is why you need a ship?"

"Correct again. GMF will take forever to find us. After all, they have an entire galaxy to search. Don't worry, we'll return it after we're done."

He sighed. "If this 'Dareth' guy really is as bad as you're making him out to be, then I'm entirely with you on this one. But it's Tails' ship, not mine. His ship, his decision."

"Maybe you could try to help convince him?"

Another sigh. "I'll try."

Tails ran up to the pod, placing both hands on the exterior. Cosmo was inside, fast asleep from her looks. A mechanical arm inside held a needle to her leg and seemed to be injecting her with something. "Cosmo..." He turned to the feline creature next to him. "Is she going to be alright?"

He nodded without taking his eyes of the monitor or his hands off the keyboard. "Her leg is broken, but we have some spare nanotech available that can take care of that."

The arm folded back up into the floor of the pod. "Nanotech? Is that what you just put into her?"  
"Correct. The microscopic machines will enter her leg, replacing and shifting the bone marrow into its proper alignment. After they've served their purpose, they convert themselves into iron and simply release themselves into the bloodstream."

The kitsune nodded, surprised to hear someone other than himself speak in a matter of such science. "Makes sense."

"Of course it does. Don't worry, she'll be out in a short while." He left the keyboard and monitor. "So, she's actually a Seedrian?"

Tails' attention stayed on the pod. "Yeah,"

"Excellent! I thought that there was some chance my scanner was malfunctioning, but it seems to be as sharp as ever! A Seedrian! Who would have guessed!" He reached his arm out, straightening himself. "Tech slash science Jaynu. Call me Cloudy. I take it handshakes are an appropriate means of greeting on Mobius?"

Tails shook his hand. "Miles Prower. Call me Tails. And yes, they are."

"Should I assume that you are the individual who misappropriated our tech?"

His internal feeling of success at meeting such an individual was instantly replaced with shame. "Oh. Yeah...sorry about that."

"You may apologize if you wish, but whether or not you are forgiven depends on your use of such machinery. Might I ask what you did with it?"

Tails solemnly looked over at Cosmo's sleeping figure. "I...made a machine."

Cloudy raised an eyebrow. "Details?"

"Regeneration. It was..."

Cloudy quickly glanced between the two a few times, and the subject quickly became clear in his head. He slowly smiled, his gaze eventually settling on Tails. "No...Not possible. I've worked on regeneration technology for half my life! Nanotech was the epitome! There's no way that someone could rebuild an entire individual, especially with so little to work with! All you took were some power sources and a couple of converters!"

Sonic stepped up in between them, attempting to interject. "Hey, Tails, can I talk to you for a-"

"But you did, didn't you?" Cloudy simply leaned around him. "You've actually _found _a way!"

Tails scratched his head, not exactly used to such praise. "Well...I guess you could say that."

Sonic glanced between them. "Um, Tails?"

"I knew it was too unlikely," he continued, turning toward the Seedrian, "that we would just _happen _to stumble upon the last one... Tails?"

"...Yes?"

"Consider yourself forgiven! This is extraordinary! _I _would not have been able to pull this off! Me! Jaynu Cloudy! _I'm _as good as they get at this! And I would never be able to!"

Spyke followed Sonic into the group. "Ah, I see you two are already talking. You know, Tails, the moment I figured out you were the brains around here I knew you two would get along."

"Not just get along, Spyke, this kid has earned my eternal respect!" The ego-filled feline gave a quick smile to the Yajus.

He chuckled. "Wait 'till you get a look at what he did with our equipment-"

"I already know! Tails, how old are you?"

"Um...eight?" He muttered shyly.

"EIGHT!" Both Cloudy and Spyke exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yeah...eight."

Spyke walked away, shaking his head in disbelief. Cloudy simply ran his hand across his head. "I do suppose you're referring to cycles of this planet's orbit?"

"Eight years, yes."

"Eight..." He stood up and begun pacing back and forth. "I'm intellectually inferior to an _eight-year-old!_ How?" After he had a moment to calm himself down, he looked back at Tails and pointed to Cosmo. "I've pumped her leg with nanomachines, so it'll fix up shortly. She'll wake soon. Now if you'll excuse me..."

"Where are you going?" Sonic asked as he stepped past him.

"I'm going to go sulk."

Knuckles and Spyke (after having gotten over the shock) stepped back into the group. "So, Sonic? What's he say?" The Yajus folded his arms and stared down at the kitsune.

Tails gave a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

Sonic leaned against him with one arm over his shoulder. "Well, this Dareth guy Spyke's been talking about seems pretty major. I don't think it's a good idea to just let him wander about, do you?"

Tails recounted the previous info on the person. "No, he seems about as bad as the Metarex."

"Exactly." Spyke nodded sharply. "All I'm asking for is your ship. Like I said before, you'll have it returned, I'll have you compensated, and it may even have a couple of upgrades when you get it back. Just long enough for us to get back to GMF and make our report. But the longer we wait around here, more and more people are being hurt. I need an answer as soon as possible."

Tails closed his eyes, thinking it over. _Is the Blue Typhoon really so important? Are these people even being honest? Maybe it's all a lie. But, then again, maybe people really are in danger...  
_  
"Oh, just give him the ship, already!" Knuckles moaned.

"What?"

"The sooner we give it up, the sooner these guys leave!" He and Spyke shared a glare with each other for a moment. "I've already decided I don't like them! Let them go and leave us alone!"

"Actually, I was hoping for a little more than just the ship." He stared at Sonic. "I was hoping, with a little motivation, I could... spur the hedgehog here into joining up with us." The Yajus' expression mimicked a challenge.

Sonic sighed and smacked himself in the face. "I had a feeling you would ask. As much as I would love to help, I'll have to refuse."

Spyke immediately smiled. "Okay, then I'll have to use a little ace up my sleeve."

"What have you got?" The hedgehog, somehow expecting to be exhorted, monotoned his voice.

"Remember a while back? You picked a fight with me? Technically, that was aggravated assault. I could simply place you under arrest, take you back to GMF with me, and give you a 'fair' trial in which I'll make sure goes completely in your favor. Then you'll have no choice. You'll go free, but you'll be far away from home. Then there wouldn't be any reason for you to deny aiding us in exchange for fair passage back home."

He squinted back. "You know I won't go quietly."

A nod in response. "I figured. But I'm willing to pick a fight with you to do this." All four were silent for a few minutes, Tails still thinking it over. The silence was broken as a soft moan came from the pod, Cosmo turning over in her sleep. The sound caught everyone's attention. She lay on her right leg, the one the needle had just worked on, and it didn't seem to be bothering her at all.

"I guess she's alright now," Tails sighed in relief. "That's good. She doesn't need to suffer any more."

Spyke stepped over to the unit, looking down at the girl. "So this is the last Seedrian. Cute kid. They certainly do seem similar. He turned around with a sharp grin spread across his face as an idea came to mind. "Tails, you said that something's wrong with her, right? Other than her leg?"

He nodded quietly. "Yes. Although I brought her back, she seems to not remember anything. Not me, not Sonic, Knuckles, the Metarex, or even herself. Nothing."

"But it _is _the same girl, right?"

Although it was a simple question, Tails found himself stuck between answers. "I...I'm not sure..."  
"What do you mean? Is it or is it not Cosmo?"

"It's strange, I know, but somehow, after I brought her back, I felt like...I don't know. Like it wasn't really _her._ It was her body and she was alive, but...she just didn't seem..._right._ She wouldn't even wake up. It was like she was in a coma. But then, I had this...dream about her."

Spyke scoffed and Sonic just looked at him. "Show him some respect, Spyke. Seriously."

Spyke nodded, motioning with his arm. "Right, right, sorry. Continue."

"I don't really remember it that well. Mainly I remember her, this warm light, and these..._wings. _It was like some winged person, like an angel, but all I could see were the wings. The wings and the light disappeared, but after they did, she suddenly seemed to be the same Cosmo I remembered. It was like she was...here again. But then she woke up and didn't remember anything! And then...well, you guys showed up."

Spyke nodded slowly. "Seems like amnesia."

"Probably."

His grin returned. "Alright, what say you and I make a deal?" All three of them glared at him. "If I can get Cosmo's memory back for you, you will lend me use of your ship _and _all three of you will come with me."

Knuckles laughed. "Yeah, like you could do that. You don't exactly seem like a psychiatrist to me. I imagine you'd probably just convince people to jump off a building with the way you talk to people."

The Yajus shrugged, accepting the comment as if it were a well-stated fact. "If I fail, you, Tails, can have every pod here and use the tech however you like. Who knows, you may develop some sort of cure."

"So you're really that desperate for us to come along?"

He shrugged. "Originally, no. Sonic would have been enough, but after seeing you two, I think I need to reconsider. Knuckles, although you may not be so much a thinker, you fared very well in your little square-off with Jeckres."

"Finally! Some recognition!"

"And you, Tails, just look what you did!" He pointed at Cosmo. "You have brought back from the dead the only member of a dead race! Because of you, there is now a possibility that the whole Seedrian race may survive! If you had all the tech you used before, do you think it may be possible to re-create that procedure?"

"Probably. But what about her? If we all leave, we won't be able to look after her!"

"Well, we'll take her with us! I'm sure GMF officials would love to learn more about the make of her race. She needs protection, now that she's the only one left. Protection I'm _certain _GMF would be willing to offer."

Tails nodded at Sonic, who nodded back, then nodded at Knuckles who shook his head. "Alright, Spyke. We'll take you up on that deal."

He clapped his hands together, elated. "Excellent! I have just the person for the job!"

The nearest pod opened, and Cloudy emerged from it, holding a number of small watches in his hands. He stepped over to Spyke and handed one to him. "Here, Yajus. I fixed up the link. We should be able to communicate now."

"Good job, Cloudy." He instantly snapped it on around his wrist. "Jaynu, do you know where Clames might be?"

He snapped one on his own wrist. "She's still scouting around. Even though she could just look at the ranged scans to see where everything is... Do you think these three might need these?"

"Yeah, go ahead." He nodded toward them and Cloudy stepped over to the three, snapping a watch on each one.

"What are these?" Knuckles asked, turning the thing round and round on his arm.

"TSCAs." The feline answered. "Travel-Sized Communication Accessories. More efficient than carrying a radio everywhere."

"Yeah, I feel so primitive when I have to use one of these." Spyke pulled the radio from his belt and tossed it aside in the grass. "Jaynu, does Clames already have one?"

"Yes, just in case I got the signal working ahead of time."

"Excellent." He pushed a few buttons on his watch, and then spoke into it. "Jaynu, do you receive me?"

The woman's voice from before answered. "Yes, Yajus, loud and clear. How are things on your end?"

"Just fine, we're at camp and Jeckres is unconscious."

She sighed into the speaker, sounding like a wave of static. "Really, now?"

"It was for the best. He'll come around soon."

"I hope later rather than sooner. Simply judging from the fact that I'm talking to you on it, I should take it that Cloudy has the system working?"

"Of course." Spyke glanced at Cosmo's pod, then looked back into the watch. "Is Zhagohst with you?"

"Yes, he is."

"Alright, I wondered. Look, I think I may have found a way off this planet, but it involves a little favor. One that uses your talents."

"It's that girl, isn't it?"

He now glanced at Tails. "Correct. She seems to have a bad case of amnesia. If you can get her memory back, a certain friend of ours has agreed to allow us the use of his ship. We'll also get four additional members to our crew. Three of them very able."

"Is she awake?" Her voice actually sounded concerned.

"She should be soon."

"Alright, I'll be there."

The group sat around next to the pod. Spyke and Cloudy simply typed keys away on the watches while Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles aimlessly stumbled through them.

"Alright, _Yajus, _explain this!" Knuckles held up his watch to Spyke, a large string of random symbols and gibberish appearing on its small monitor.

He barely glanced at it before returning his attention to his own. "You just can't read it yet. Don't worry, once we get a translator injected you'll be able to understand all of it."

"Injected?"

"Yeah." He held his hand up as if he were holding a vaccine. "A tiny microchip that we insert into your body somewhere. It'll translate most languages. The only reason you understand me is because I have one, and translators work both ways. Although, from my point of view, I'm speaking my native language, you're hearing it all translated to your own. It's pretty handy."

"You don't say," answered Tails, quitting on the device. "When do you think we can get one of those?" Such a device would hold obvious value to one with the capacity to make much more out of it.

"Once we get to GMF, they'll automatically equip you all with them. It's pretty inexpensive once their mass-produced. Many common people use them. We all have them. Well, except Zhagohst. He did, but his translator got smashed up inside him on our fall down here."

"Zhagohst," Sonic voiced aloud, then remembered the brown beast from before, and how close his claws came to his head. He groaned loudly as a chill went up his spine.

"You alright, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Y-yeah. Spyke? Is Zhagohst that brown animal-guy?"

"Mm-hm." The Yajus nodded with a look of amusement, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Scared of him?"

He groaned again in frustration. "Great. Why do you pick the uncontrollable attack psychos as your buddies?"

"Oh, you mean that fight you had with him? Totally our fault. After we learned that our tech was missing we assumed the worst. We considered you bandits and thieves. We were rather rash. Sorry."

"'_We?'_" Cloudy echoed. "_'We _were rather rash?' More like you were, Spyke. I told you it was a bad idea-"

His attention snapped to the feline. "YAJUS Spyke! It's Yajus! You refer to me as 'Yajus', Jaynu!"

A light _thunk _interrupted the argument from Cosmo's pod. She was sitting upright and had just bumped her forehead against the ceiling. "Ow..." she whispered, rubbing it.

Tails leapt up and ran over to her, slowly followed by the rest. "Cosmo! Are you alright? Are you okay?"

She twisted her leg a little, feeling no pain. "Yes...I think so."

Cloudy sat down next to the pod and pressed a single key, opening the ceiling outward. She clumsily clambered out of it with a little help from Tails and firmly placed both feet on the ground.

"So, is your leg okay?" The feline stood back up.

"Yes, it is." For the first time since Tails had brought her back, Cosmo smiled.

"Good. See, I told you there was nothing to worry about."

"Right...Sorry I threw such a fit earlier." Cosmo's smile quickly faded.

Tails' ears perked up. "A fit? What?"

He chuckled. "Cosmo panicked a little when I tried to put her to sleep. Apparently gas is intimidating when you're contained an incommodious space."

"Hey!" Knuckles turned to Cloudy. "Don't you go using those big words around me! It took forever to kick Tails of that habit!"

Spyke interrupted, looking up over the trees. "Ah, there she is."

Everyone looked in the same direction. Over the trees was a figure held aloft by two pairs of butterfly wings, just as insanely decorated as Jeckres'. She fluttered to the ground in front of them, landing softly on the grass as her wings folded up into a light robe. She was, without any doubt, of the same race as Jeckres, but didn't emanate the malicious aura he did. Her appearance seemed similar to his, but with scarlet-red hair and a much gentler face; a weapon, which appeared to be a spear coupled with a scope, was locked onto her back. "I'm not late, am I?" Her voice seemed higher-pitched in person than over the TSCA.

"Not at all, Clames." Spyke answered, placing a hand on Cosmo's shoulder. "This is the girl."

Remembering the sadistic man from before as he took off with his own wings, Cosmo instinctively took a step back, her gaze rapidly shifting between him and Clames. "W-wait a minute..."

"Ah, that's right." Spyke nodded slowly, then leaned down over and whispered to her. "Cosmo, don't worry about her. She's safe, she's not like Jeckres. Even though they look similar."

Clames took a few light steps over to the girl and bent down so they were eye level. "Take good care of her," Tails reminded her. "Please make her better."

She looked up at him with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I've cured amnesia before, if that's all it is."

He eyed the stranger suspiciously, nervous at the thought of leaving the girl in her care. "How so?"

"I'm not completely sure of it, myself," she rose to her full height, "but I've always had some slight telepathy. I've cured eleven cases of amnesia prior to this. I'm sure she'll be no different." She looked back down at Cosmo. "If you would follow me, please."

"Take care of her."

Clames and Cosmo sat at opposite ends of a table inside one of the pods. The room was completely hollowed out, as it once contained machinery that Cloudy had now scattered out at sixes and sevens, and everyone else waited outside.

"So I heard you are having some trouble remembering, Cosmo?"

She quietly nodded.

"What do you remember?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Clames skeptically raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"Well... I do remember...at least I _think _I remember...people."

"People?"

"People...being hurt." Cosmo began shaking.

Clames closed her eyes. "We all have some bad memories."

She continue. "People...dying...I think I knew them...!" Tears began welling up in her eyes, and she began hiccuping.

Clames sighed quietly and closed her eyes. This was not going to be a pleasant session. "Cosmo, you are the only surviving member of an extinct race of which the females are called the Seedrians. The males of your order, called the Thorndrigans, massacred the other Seedrians. Do you remember any of this?"

She slowly nodded. "I...I think I do. I remember people...screaming...and dying."

"The surviving Thorndrigans donned themselves in dark armor, claiming the title of 'Metarex'. This much is recorded history. However, your existence is not. From what I have gathered from what Spyke has told me, you died in a fight against their leader, Dark Oak, and was brought back through advanced technology put together by Tails. Does this make sense to you?"

"I think so..."

Clames reached out and held Cosmo's arms with her own, meeting her eye-to-eye. "Cosmo, this is going to be a _very _delicate process, especially for one as young as yourself, so I'm going to need your full cooperation. Okay?"

"...Okay..."

"Lay your head down on the table."

She did as instructed.

"Close your eyes."

She did as instructed.

"Try to clear your head of all thoughts."

She- attempted- as instructed.

"Count to ten."

She did.

"Now imagine a door."

The image came quickly in her mind: a wooden door against a black background.

"Now open the door."

The door opened, filling her head with light. Suddenly, it was as if Cosmo had no control over her mind's actions, and she found herself unable to open her eyes. The image turned into that of a dark hallway, with hundreds upon hundreds of doors appearing on either side of it. _Wh-what's going on? _Cosmo's mind raced, looking behind to see more doors.  
_**  
It's fine. You're okay.**_ It was Clames' voice in her head now. _**Look at yourself.  
**_  
Cosmo looked down. Instead of her own body, she seemed to be in Clames'. _What...  
__**  
Don't be alarmed. You see these doors?  
**__  
Yes.  
__**  
Behind each of these is a memory. This is simply my way of putting a person's mind in a state that I can handle. You are in my body, but have no control over it. Instead, you control the doors. In order to cure amnesia, most people hold certain memories that stand out above others. If you can tap into these, you will be able to find more. I will step through each door in order to make these easily visible to both of us. However, a journey through one's mind is entirely based on emotion. You will be able to feel emotions and gain a clue as what each is before I enter. If, for whatever reason, you do not want me to see a memory, imagine the door as being locked. I will not force my way. Do you understand?  
**__  
Yes. I understand.  
__**  
Then let's begin.  
**_

Clames stepped over to the first door. Cosmo could feel an immense sensation of amusement emanating from it. Her hand touched the knob and pushed it open.

From Cosmo's point of view, Clames was sitting in the cockpit of the Blue Typhoon. Everyone was laughing hard. Sonic had apparently tripped and fell all the way down the stairs.  
_**  
Anything?  
**__  
...A little..._

Clames was back in the hall. She stepped to the next door. Frustration. Cosmo considered for a moment, then allowed Clames to open it.

Clames stood as Cosmo when she was younger. She looked up at a taller, but still gentle, Seedrian, who was making looking down with a condescending expression, making fun of her "daydreaming".  
_**  
Who is this?  
**_  
It quickly came to her. _Galexina! My sister!_

Back in the hall. Clames approached the next door. A feeling of utter and pure embarrassment and humiliation emanated from it. Cosmo imagined herself locking it up tight, and Clames skipped past it.

_**You know, that still leaves me curious...  
**__  
Don't tease like that.  
_  
The next door. Fear and terror. _**I think this one may be important.  
**__  
Go ahead. _Clames opened it, much to her sorrow.

People, Seedrians, running about, screaming, in purest terror, as many small machines which could only be described as 'cruel' ran after them. One after another, they cut them down with haste. They swung blades, fired projectiles, swept fire. Clames, through Cosmo's eyes, turned around to see Galexina, tears in her eyes, screaming at her, again and again. "RUN!" She ran. She was followed. She was cornered. She blacked out.

Back in the hall. _**Cosmo, are you alright?  
**__  
No...  
__****_

_  
That was awful... I remember them now... The Metarex. I left in an escape pod and landed on Mobius. That's how I met Tails and the rest of them. But, my family, my friends...  
__**  
How about we make sure the next door we open is a happy one?  
**__  
...Okay.  
_  
Skipping the next few doors, Clames stumbled upon one which radiated a feeling of peace. She opened it.

Clames stood next to Tails, staring out a window into space. Absently, as if he were speaking without even noticing the words that had fallen from him, he mumbled. "You're really beautiful," he said.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" She stared at the stars flickering in the distance.  
_  
Wait...he was talking about me?  
__**  
You remember this?  
**__  
Yes...But I didn't know he said that about me...  
__**  
Well aren't you a little love-bug?**_

Back in the hall. _**Should we go back to the ones we skipped?  
**__  
Can we just quit entirely?  
__**  
No. **_Her voice in her head was amazingly blatant._**  
**__  
...That's probably for the best.  
_  
She stepped back to one of the old doors. This one was different. Whereas all the other doors were clean-cut wood, this one was rotting and falling apart. It stood ajar and all forms of sickness seemed to seep out of it. _This one...it's horrible.  
__**  
It is an ugly memory.  
**__  
No, it's not just that. All the other ones I at least felt familiar with before entering...I don't with this one.  
__**  
Should I enter?  
**__  
No. No. NO. NO. NO. NO. _The word repeatedly sounded in her head until she was mentally screaming it, the sickness pushing it out of her. _NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!  
_  
Clames ran from the door as fast as possible until it was far behind, then slowed to a stop. _I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that.  
__**  
You were so distressed. That room has something horrible in it. And if you don't recognize it, then you must not have ever remembered it. Something you **_**truly **_**forgot.  
**__  
I know this makes me a hypocrite, but...could we go back? Let's race back and run through it before I can argue.  
__**  
Are you sure?  
**__  
It may be what I need.  
__**  
It's strange though. When I first saw you, you seemed like a small child. Now you seem wise beyond your years. You're just like Jeckres... but without the cruelty.  
**_  
Clames turned and raced back down the hall. Within seconds she approached the rotting, decaying door, and, rather than locking it, Cosmo imagined herself pulling it open for her, tearing the door off its rotting hinges.

Clames stood in the middle of a large room. It was on Cosmo's original home in space. She was tired. She was confused. She was panicking. The commotion had died down. All around her were corpses-all Seedrian. The machines were all gone. The room was entirely silent.

Then, shattering the silence into trillions of sharp, sharp, lethal shards, piercing into the girls' very hearts and tearing them apart with the most horrid cruelty imaginable, was a low gasp. Clames turned. Directly behind them, stood Galexina. She was leaning over next to a figure. It was not mechanical. It lived and breathed, and wore the most wretched, perverted smile across its face. It was covered in unkempt fur, the deepest ebon, and held a sharpened piece of metal through the chest of Cosmo's very sister. It shined brilliantly through her back, and the beast yanked it sideways, ripping it through her breast and out, kicking her to the floor. A whitish fluid spilled from her, a mix of her blood and chlorophyll. Galexina managed to look up toward Clames, her gaze permanently resting upon her, without a blink.  
_  
...I...  
_  
The creature turned to Clames. It laughed. It laughed wildly. A familiar laugh, as the one Cosmo had heard in the woods before Jeckres had shattered it. It was psychotic, it was cruel, it held no remorse, it was the incarnation of sadism in itself.

But things turned worse. As the creature laughed, Clames fell back. Her vision blurred. Before she could react, against all her logic, and against her sanity, an eyeball. A single, floating eyeball rested in front of her. Horrid, disgusting, gruesome, it pulsed repeatedly, and radiated its terrible sickness. The gaze of this single eye held more hell, more torture, more terror, more outright fear and unbelievable sadness and terror, and terror, and terror, and ice-cold, blood-freezing terror.

Both Cosmo and Clames fell silent as their connection broke.


	6. Chapter 6

Sonic stood, leaned against the side of the pod that Clames and Cosmo had entered for their "session", as Spyke had put it. Knuckles, in an attempt to prove his strength in a fair fight, had begun squaring off with Spyke in a slight scuffle, and seemed to be winning. Tails was pacing back and forth in constant worry as Cloudy numbly explained more and more about the makings of the pods to him, every syllable being completely ignored.

Everyone looked as a rustling came from the trees nearby, and Spyke seized his opportunity, swinging around and gripping Knuckles in a headlock. He began squeezing tightly, bragging all the while. "Never...lose...focus...during...a...fight..." every word came with a quick squeeze.

Knuckles twisted to the side, freeing one arm, and repeatedly bashed it against Spyke's head again and again, eventually beating him to the ground. After a few moments of catching his breath, Knuckles stood over him, victorious. "HA! How's that! See what happens without your little smoke bombs? You just can't win!"

The Yajus lazily raised both arms in the air above his head and clapped three times. "Kudos. Never an easy victory." He slowly climbed back to his feet, one hand on his head. "But remember, in real life it isn't always a fair fight. If someone has something that might give them some sort of advantage, you bet they will use it."

"Yeah, whatever! It just proves my point! You wouldn't have won before if it weren't for the smoke bomb! If it weren't for that, we wouldn't even be in this situation!"

They all looked back at the thicket as the previous brown beast from before pushed its way through it and made his way over to Spyke, purposely ensuring he was in his translator's range. His expression seemed somewhat gentler than before as he glanced at each of the three Mobians, smiling widely at Sonic. "Well, blue boy, glad to see you made it!" It's voice, now understandable, was deep and extremely scratchy, the level of intimidation reached contradicting his expression.

Sonic pushed off the wall, readying himself in case he had to run. "Yeah, you keep talking! What, you want to finish what you started?"

He shook his head, not losing his smile. "No, no, the fight's over. I didn't even want to hurt you. I guess I just got a little carried away."

"He only attacked because I ordered him to," Spyke interjected. "He's really not some wild animal. So where were you, Zhagohst? Out scouting with Clames?"

He nodded. "Before she left back here. Speaking of which," he looked over to Cloudy, who had eventually shut up. "how is the girl? Is she okay?"

"Of course!" Cloudy actually looked offended. "What, did you think it would fail to fix her?"

"Knowing your tech's tendency to malfunction, yes."

Just as Cloudy made a move to get up out of his seat, Tails quit his mindless pacing and stepped over to the creature apparently named Zhagohst. "Would I be right to guess that you're the one that saved Cosmo?"

His smile faded and he nodded solemnly. "From Jeckres? Yes, that was me. I had no choice, he was going to kill her if I didn't!"

Tails closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, then made a slight bow. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened..."

He nodded and quietly stepped past Tails, patting him on the back in the process. "It's alright. So, where is the girl?"

Spyke nodded toward the nearest pod. "In there. Clames is having a session with her. Apparently, she has amnesia."

Tails stepped over next to Sonic, leaning against the pod with him. "They've been in there for an awfully long while. I hope everything's okay..."

Clames was in a panic. The entire connection had just been lost. She was suddenly back in the pod, exhausted from the mental shock and the absolute terror induced from the figure. However, of a far greater concern, was Cosmo. She sat back in her chair, staring off into space. She didn't seem entirely conscious and was shaking violently. After a particularly powerful jerk, she fell out of her seat and hit her head on the table on her way down.

Her mind was in turmoil. The last image, that menacing, awful, disgusting, wretched eyeball had sent images soaring through her mind. An entire eight years passed before her eyes in minutes, places, people, memories of friends and family and enemies. All at once she laughed, she cried, she screamed, she breathed in silence, the fire and the pain, the quiet and the calm, the pain, the torture, the anguish, the joy, the love, the tears, and the dullness and excitement of every event that she had ever experienced passed by her eyes and entered her, as if she were living all over again. The images slowed, eventually resting on her last.

Cosmo floated in empty space, a monstrous mass of plant matter behind her, roaring in anger. Ahead of her, a lone ship, the cockpit full of sorrow as a young fox tearfully pushed forward a single lever in front of him. Within an instant, an entire cannon of energy engulfed her, tearing the very fibers from her existence...

"Cosmo, please, WAKE UP!" Her eyes shot open as the voice pulled her back. She was flat on her back and Clames kneeled over her, gently brushing her forehead with her hand. Clames sighed dramatically. "Thank goodness. Good to see you back in the land of the living. I seriously thought something went wrong. Are you alright?"

There was a very long, a painfully long silence between the two. Clames sat over her, desperately awaiting an answer. Cosmo worked her mind over, thinking of the words to describe what had just occurred. After minutes of contemplating, Cosmo slowly closed her eyes. "Clames...thank you."

She expectantly leaned closer to her. "Did it...work?"

She nodded slowly. "...Yes...Of course...I'm certain..."

The Kemao girl gave a soft smile. "You look older. Just a little. I can't put my finger on it. You haven't changed in appearance at all, but you just seem...older."

She nodded slowly, and blinked a few times, tears slowly running down her face. "I feel older..."

"Oh, come now..." she wiped a couple of tears away with her hand. "Don't cry. This is something to celebrate. Not to be upset about."

Her last moments played through her head again and again. Tails, so tearfully, so angrily, pushing that lever, the look of anguish plaguing his face and, undoubtedly, his mind, as the cannon launched. Her tears began to flow without stop. "Tails... That must have hurt you so badly..."

"What do you mean? Who's Tails?"

She closed her eyes, slightly smiling. "The boy outside. The fox. It must have killed him to push that...to actually kill someone..."

"Hold on," Clames whispered, pressing her head against Cosmo's, "let me see." There was a moment of silence between the two as the memory played through her head one last time, spreading over to Clames'. After it finished, she lifted her head again. "...I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be..." She sat back up, wiping her tears. "Not for me. It's Tails that was hurt... He didn't deserve that kind of burden to bear... It was selfish of me to request that of him..."

"Well," Clames slowly stood up, reaching an arm out for Cosmo, "are you ready to go? Are you sure you remember?"

The memories each stood out in her head, each as strong as the other, but none as strong as the dark creature, and that eye... "Yes...I'm sure...It's all back. And it couldn't have been done if it weren't for you..." She looked back up to her. "Thank you. But could I stay here for a little while? I need a moment."

"Oh, of course." She took a few steps toward the pod's exit, then turned around. "Whenever you need someone to talk to, don't hesitate to let me know, alright?"

She nodded silently as Clames left the room, leaving herself to her thoughts. As if she held the power to do so herself, she had hidden one last vague thought, whispered as if to some entity that she could neither see nor hear. Quietly, she mouthed the words as she heard them herself. "The dream is fading...May we last forever..."

"Alright, it's done." Clames stepped out of the pod and over to Spyke, a smug look of triumph about her.

"So, wait, it's just done!" Tails stared at the pod with skepticism. "Just like that? She has her memory back?"

"Just like that. She's probably the same Cosmo you remember now."

"Is she inside? Can I go see her-" Tails made a movement toward the pod, but was stopped as Clames positioned herself in the way.

"She suggested some alone time. It's a bit harsh taking so many memories in at once." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be ready soon."

"...Alright..."

Abruptly, Spyke stepped over to him and smacked him on the back. "So, Tails, a deal's a deal, right? Cosmo's healed, so you guys are coming with us. That sound good?"

It took him several moments to notice that he had even been spoken to, then suddenly snapped to attention. "Right. A deal's a deal. You helped her." He turned to Sonic and Knuckles, both of which were wearing contrasting expressions. "What do you guys say?"

"You've already got my support," Sonic shrugged, nodding toward the echidna, "but I think this guy is a little upset by the idea."

"A _little _upset?" Knuckles glared back and forth between them. "More than a little! I never agreed to this! It wasn't _my _bet to make! You two just forced me into it!"

"Hey, the deal's been made!" Spyke folded his arms in a scolding manner. "You should have objected when I offered it! Now it's too late to turn back. If I have to stun you and haul you with us, I will!"

"Yeah, you try that!" Before another word had been said, Knuckles lunged at Spyke, and the two continued their fight from before as the rest quietly watched.

_Who was that..._ The thought repeatedly ran through Cosmo's head along with the memory from before that she and Clames stumbled across. Every time the thought passed her, she felt herself sink a little more as the grotesque creature's blade...

She shook her head violently, shaking the memory away. _Something happier...something happier... I'm alive. There's something to be thankful for! _She absently began patting up her arms in an attempt to come to terms with the idea. _I'm definitely alive. But what was it like to be dead?_ She sighed and leaned back in her chair. _Happy thoughts, happy thoughts..._ Her eyes widened as a thought hit her. _The Metarex are gone...They're all really gone!_ Neither a smile nor a frown formed on her face. She felt a mix of both joy and sorrow. _The last ones...  
_

As before, the most part of the group sat by, watching idly as Knuckles and Spyke continued their pointless scuffle. This time around, Spyke seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Knuckles was face-down on the ground with Spyke stretching both arms behind his back and with his foot on the back of his head. Plenty of needless curses were thrown around.

The attention diverted from the fight to Cosmo has she quietly emerged from the pod, immediately attempting to sink back in as she noticed the fight. "Cosmo!" Clames waved to her, beckoning over to the tree the rest sat by. "Come on! Watch the fireworks!"

She cautiously stepped around the two, staring in confusion, toward the tree. Somehow, Knuckles and Spyke seemed to have swapped roles, but were in exactly the same position as before. Tails leapt up from the tree and ran over, meeting her halfway.

"Cosmo, are you alright? How did it go? Do you remember now?" His voice was unbelievably hurried and his words seemed to string together.

She looked at the ground, memories of the kitsune filling her head. Half-forcing a smile, she looked back up at him. "Yes, of course! Of course I do."

Still not completely convinced, he stared with worry. "...Are you sure? Everything? ...Do you remember me?"

The smile was no longer forced. "Yes! Of course!" She reached out and held his hand in her's. "Miles Prower! Tails! Without you, we would never have been able to help anyone!"

He looked away, relived, but slightly embarrassed. "Thank goodness..."

"You are my friend! You built the Blue Typhoon, you saved me from Shadow, you..." Then, without any thought into her words at all, "you shot me, and..." She went immediately silent as his gaze fell to the ground.

"...I'm sorry..." He began shaking, closing his eyes shut. "...If I only had more time, I would have thought of something..."

"NO!" Her sudden outburst shook him even harder and he pulled his arm back. "Don't say that. Don't feel like that!" Attempting to reestablish the connection, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "You...did what you had to. It's okay. I don't..."

Her voice trailed as Sonic, Clames, and Zhagohst circled around them, ending the moment. "So," Sonic leaned over on Tails' shoulder. "The girl's alright? You feelin' okay, Cosmo?"

A smile and a nod. "Yes, Sonic, thank you. But I'd..."

"Tails?" Zhagohst leaned down in front of him, blocking the two off. "As soon as the Yajus and your...pal...finish up, Cloudy and I have suggested you show us your ship. If lucky, we may be able to transfer some of the tech from our pods. Is that alright with you?"

He looked down, not catching most of what he had said. "...Yeah, sure..."

Sonic and Zhagohst returned to their seats by the tree, leaving the two with Clames. Just as Cosmo began to speak, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt, but could I talk to you for a bit?"

She looked back at Tails, whispering a quick apology. The kitsune finally looked back up at her, a surprising grin on his face. "It's alright, Cosmo. I understand. Go ahead."  
After a moment's hesitation, she nodded back to him, then turned and walked back with the woman.

The fight had just about died down, and Spyke and Knuckles stood a good ten feet from each other, each still pondering what the other would do next. Spyke raised and lowered the plates on his arms a few times, a pointless intimidation tactic. "So, echidna, still planning on keeping this up? I could go all day!" His words were forced between heavy breaths.

"Yeah, you just come over here, then!" Knuckles' condition proved no better as he slammed his fist on the ground in front of him for the same effect. They both stood for several minutes, waiting silently for the other. It was the perfect moment in which a tumbleweed could just roll by.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Cosmo took a quick glance over at Spyke and Knuckles, who had both finally ceased their petty squabbling and were receiving directions from Tails on the location of the Blue Typhoon. She and Clames sat at a tree overlooking the rest of the landscape.

"I'm not completely sure. A few different things, I guess. Mainly..." Any hint of a smile quickly vanished from her face. "...I guess I'm curious. That one memory I saw..."

Cosmo shook her head slowly, the image playing through her head once again. "I still don't remember that one...or who that was."

Clames clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes, trembling a small amount. She seemed to be suffering under some turmoil. "...There's something I want to tell you...but I don't think I should..."

Sparking her curiosity, Cosmo's gave quickly swapped over to her. "What? What is it? If you know something, please tell me!"

She sighed quietly. "I...I don't know..."

She quietly considered the possibilities of what her silence could mean for several minutes, Clames remaining completely silent in the process. "...It's about that person in the memory, isn't it? You know who that was, don't you?"

"I'm...not sure."

She rose to her feet, not bothering to dust herself off. "Tell me. If you have any idea at all, I want to know! I have that right, don't I?"

Clames slowly nodded. "That right, yes, but still..."

"Then tell me!" She wiped a tear that was forming in her eye. "That person, whoever it was, killed my sister! Don't you think I should know who that was!"

"...I don't know for sure, but...it looked like Wildson."

"Wildson?"

Clames cast her eyes to the ground, answering in a voice barely above a whisper. "Yeah...He's been stirring up trouble for a while. We would have been able to help with the Metarex if we weren't busy with him..."

Cosmo sighed quietly and slumped back down next to her. "...I don't even know him. I wouldn't even be able to do anything about it if I did..." She glanced at Clames, who continued to stare at the ground, then stared with her. "Cloudy told me something about all of you keeping the peace across planets, right? Wouldn't you do something about this...Wildson?"

"We're trying, but we're losing... Dareth Wildson. He has us completely outmatched. But there's something I don't understand. We couldn't even find him around the time that the Metarex rose to power. He just...disappeared. He was only a minor threat before then, but ever since the Metarex first attacked, he showed up on the opposite side of the galaxy and went straight to work..."

"...So he's dangerous?"

She nodded. "We're not sure about it, but I think he was working with the Metarex for a while." She raised both arms and slowly moved them together in a clap. "Wildson and the Metarex appeared on opposite sides of the galaxy and began to slowly move inward, taking out everything in the way. That stopped once you beat them out, but Dareth's tactics changed once the Metarex were dealt with. He just went into hiding for a little bit and then reemerged with an even larger army than before-"

"WHY?" Cosmo's outburst shook Clames out of the slight trance she seemed to be stuck in. The Seedrian rose to her feet, glaring down at the Kemao. "How could anyone side themselves with those monsters! They wanted nothing more than to kill other people! They didn't even care about their own race! How could anyone do that? What could possibly convince him that that would be a good idea?"

"...I'm afraid I can't answer that..."

Her glare seemed sharper than a knife. "You can't? Or you won't? You know something, don't you?"  
"...I...I'm sorry. It's complicated." She climbed back to her feet, stretching her arms into the air. "Let's get off this unhappy topic. What about-"

"No! Tell me!" She shook her head violently. "If you know something about this, I demand to know!"

"Cosmo, it's more trouble for you if we keep this up. I can guarantee that Wildson will be brought to justice eventually. There's no need to worry about this so much."

She growled loudly and stomped her foot like a toddler. "You don't get it! He killed my sister! You saw it! You think I can just wait for you to 'eventually' get around to it?"

Clames' voice sounded absolutely miserable."...There's nothing else you _can _do." Cosmo remained silent for a moment, then attempted to respond, but was only able to stutter out random syllables before she dropped to her knees, sobbing loudly. Clames crawled over next to her, holding her in an embrace. "It's alright...I understand how you feel. I've lost family to him, too. My mother..." She paused for a moment, considering how to word her statement. "My mother isn't dead, but...I've lost her to him, too. But think about it. It looked like Wildson, but there's no guarantee it was him. Maybe it was someone else." Cosmo didn't respond, continuing to cry into Clames' arm. She remained silent for a moment, pondering a way to lighten the mood. Quickly, an idea came to her. "You know, Cosmo, if you think about it, you're not really alone."

"...What?" She sniffled.

"Think about it. What exactly are Seedrians?"

She slowly pulled herself away from Clames, looking at the ground. "...Plants?"

"Correct. More specifically, a plant-animal hybrid. There is both animal and plant matter in you, correct?"

This was common knowledge to a Seedrian.. "...yes, yes..."

"Do you really think there would only be one race like that in existence?"

At first the words floated past her, but she quickly replayed the sentence in her head, looking back up at her once she grasped the meaning of it. "Wait, you mean..."

Clames smiled, satisfied with her small accomplishment. "The Seedrians may be gone, but it's not like they were the only species of their order around. There are others! There are races related to the Seedrians that still live."

The new info left Cosmo speechless for almost a minute before she could continue. "Are you...sure...?"

She nodded solemnly. "Yes, I've met some before. I'm sure in your time here that you've heard the term Sarpecian?"  
_  
Sarpecian. _The word echoed in her head for a long moment. _'Sarpecian Witch!' _"That's what Jeckres called me..." She met Clames' gaze once again. "Why does he hate me so badly?"

"Well...it's not that he hates _you, _it's that he hates your kind. It's not _who _you are, but _what _you are. Does that make sense to you?"

"Um..."  
"Jeckres and I are Kemaos. Most Kemaos have never been on good terms with Sarpecians. Some have even gone to the extent of completely hating them. Unfortunately, Jeckres is one of them."

"But...I'm not a Sarpecian. Doesn't he know that?"

Clames slowly nodded, sighing loudly. "Yes...I told him. But, as far as he cares, the similarity is close enough. The Seedrians were the closest resembling races to the Sarpecians." She tilted her head to the left and right, then slowly circled around, viewing her at all angles. "Come to think of it, Cosmo, your resemblance to them is uncanny. If I didn't know better, I would have guessed that you actually were a Sarpecian! I've seen Seedrians and I've seen Sarpecians, so, from a viewer's perspective, I would say that you actually resemble a Sarpecian."

Cosmo shook her head. "No, I'm sure I'm a Seedrian. Even Cloudy's scanner said so."

"Oh, I believe you. I'm just saying that it's understandable how Jeckres would assume that. It doesn't excuse his behavior, but it does explain it."

"Maybe." Cosmo sat back down, wiping the last tear from her eye. "Sorry I yelled..."

"It's alright. I would have as well."

Both girls jumped as a loud crash echoed down the hill. One of the pods had tipped over on its side with Knuckles and Spyke on the reverse end, slowly pushing it along. Cloudy ran up to the two from across the field and seemed to be loudly voicing his complaints. The only word that was discernible from the distance was "fragile". The two stopped pushing and Spyke commenced in conversation with him in a docile manner, Cloudy still wildly yelling.

"I hope everything's alright down there..."

"So, what about that fox?" Clames briefly pointed at Tails, who simply sat by as the others argued.

Cosmo nervously glanced between her and the subject. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Clames hopped over to the tree and plopped down next to her, throwing one arm over her shoulder. "I saw a lot of memories back there, you know. Quiiiite a lot of them were of him, with a lot of...friendly emotions mixed in. Care to elaborate?"

"Um...why?" A blush was immediately noticeable on her cheeks.

"I dunno. I'm nosy?"

"Well...he and I are friends! That's all."

Clames sat back upright, turning her head away from her. "...Denial."

"What?"

"What?" The Kemao mimicked.

Cosmo stared at the back of her head for a few seconds before continuing. "I'm not denying anything! We're just friends!"

"Of course you are." They sat in silence for a minute, silence that was quickly broken as Clames suddenly began giggling.

"...What're you laughing at?"

"It's just too funny. After all," She leaned closer so their heads were inches from each other. "didn't he once say that he loved you?"

Her face immediately turned a deep shade of red. "Th-that was spur of the moment! He was upset, he didn't know how he was feeling!" Clames simply nodded along, a large smile spread across her face. "He just didn't want me to feel forgotten!"

"And you're sure about this?"

Hesitating for a moment, Cosmo's expression swapped from embarrassment to anger. "And who are you to try to butt into something so personal?"

She just giggled once again. "'Personal?' So you do like him?"

"Th-that's not what I said!"

"But it's what you meant, right?"

"I...let's...change the subject."

"No, no, no," she fell over backward, stretching across the grass. "No running from this one, you little love bug. Answer the question."

"No."

"Is that an answer to the question or an objection to answering?"

"It's..."

Clames closed her eyes, tapping her foot against the ground rhythmically. "Well, if you won't talk to me about it, why not him?" Cosmo looked away without answering. "Certainly he won't make fun of you as much as I will, right?"

"I...I can't..."

Another silence filled the gap between them until Clames quickly hopped to her feet, straightening her pale hair. "Well, if you won't talk to him, maybe I will."

"What?" She jumped up next to her, suddenly willing to object. "What are you doing?"

She sighed dramatically, brushing a hand through the Seedrian's hair. "It pains me to see this manner of pain between two individuals such as yourselves..."

Cosmo tolerated three slow brushes, then pushed the arm away. It took both hands to move it. "What do you mean?"

"One of you needs to do something. If you two just let this go on, nothing will ever get done between you. I think one of you needs a little kick-start. If it won't be you, it'll be Tails."

Cosmo growled quietly. It sounded more like a whine.

"You can tell him yourself, if you like. If not...I may have to do it for you, then push from his side."

"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" The uncharacteristic outburst made Clames jump. Cosmo's face was beet red, mixed between embarrassment and anger. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE IT ALONE?"

Clames stared at her for a long moment, contemplating how to respond appropriately. She glanced back down the hill at Tails, then back at Cosmo, and finally stepped past her toward the trees and away from the kitsune. "I'm sorry you feel that way..."

Waiting several moments after the Kemao had left, her footsteps completely inaudible, Cosmo slumped back down next to the tree, clenching her tiny fists as tightly as possible.

Spyke and Knuckles stood, their arms folded, inside the overturned pod that they had recently been attempting to move. Unfortunately, a simple plan to efficiently move so much equipment had just been derailed by the over-paranoid Cloudy, who was crouched over a large flat-screened monitor that had somehow found its way on the floor. The pale-furred creature was hastily flicking buttons and switches located on the base of the equipment while mindlessly chastising the two behind him.

"_No _idea what the _hell _you were thinking... Not _everything _is made of titanium...Some of this stuff is _very _delicate...Just going to go _roll _it all away..."

Spyke sighed, tired of the pointless ranting. "Cloudy, I'll say it again, I'm sorry. The sooner we got these over to Tails' ship, the better."

"Then perhaps..." Cloudy rose to his feet, picking up one side of the monitor and slowly turning it around, the loud scraping noise made by the heavy tech echoing through the pod. Nobody's ears were spared. After he turned it how he liked, he crouched down in front of it again. "...you could have _told _me that you were going to move it a bit earlier. I've had the time to get everything out, I just didn't get around to it! If you had told me _earlier,_ I would have made it a higher priority!"

"Perhaps it should have been a priority to begin with."

Cloudy kept silent, forgetting the half-argument as he studied the screen. Just as Spyke and Knuckles turned toward the exit, he exclaimed. "What's this!"

Cringing, the Yajus turned back. "...What?"

"A crack!" He leaned to the side and pointed to a corner of the screen, which had a tiny splinter that was barely noticeable unless closely examined. "In your barbaric tumbling, you fractured the screen of my monitor!"

"You call that a crack?" He stepped over to the monitor and ran a finger over the tiny flaw. "That's nothing! What are you getting so worked up about?"

"You damaged my equipment!"

"That could have come from anywhere! Who says that _we _broke it?"

He stuck an accusing finger at the tiny imperfection. "That monitor was in perfect condition yesterday! It was clean and it was _intact!_ Now it's dirty and _broken!_"

"Ohhhh..." Spyke spun around and stepped toward the exit. "It's fine! Get over it! It still works, it's not broken. Get over it. I'm giving you ten minutes to remove all your crap from these pods. After that, Knuckles and I are moving them however we see fit."

"Ten?"

"Get moving!"

Cloudy glanced down at the monitor. "This thing weighs more than I do! It would take a _day _for me to move it out of here!"

"Fine, fine." Knuckles sighed, stepping over to the equipment and effortlessly lifting it with a single arm, accidentally colliding it with the wall.

"HEY!"

"Shut up!" The echidna turned it over on its base, the length facing the exit. "Leave the heavy lifting to me and stop complaining!"

The two left the pod, Knuckles pushing the monitor with him, leaving Cloudy scratching the back of his head in worry. He spun around and kicked the wall as a loud crash, almost certainly from another blunder with the monitor, echoed from outside.

Tails stood and watched as Spyke and Knuckles emerged from the pod, Knuckles pushing along what seemed to be a large, flat computer monitor.

The kitsune's attention was diverted by a tap on his shoulder, revealed to be Zhagohst as he turned around. "So, which way to this ship?"

He glanced back at the pod as Cloudy rushed out after them, carrying armfuls of various equipment. "Once their done, I'll take you all there."

Zhagohst looked over with him, shrugging as Cloudy quickly rushed back into the pod after emptying his arms filled with various gadgets across the ground. "It looks like they'll be awhile. If Cloudy's trying to empty every one of those pods, we might be here for the rest of the day."

"Don't worry about that," Spyke called, apparently able to hear every word. "He's got ten minutes to clear the important stuff. Then we're rolling it."

"...Rolling it?"

"Yeah, something like this." Spyke motioned to Knuckles next to the pod, who dropped the monitor abruptly with a loud _crash _and stepped over to its hull. In unison, they both placed their hands on the casing of the vehicle and shoved, toppling it over on its side. A loud yell, obviously from Cloudy, echoed from inside.

As they prepared for a second push, he stumbled from the flipped entrance, carrying a few more appliances. "It hasn't been ten minutes! What are you doing?"

"Ten?" Spyke scoffed, giving the pod a nudge that shook its entire frame. "I said two."

"You said ten!"

"No, I'm pretty sure it was two."

"You know what?" Cloudy threw the tech to the ground and ran a hand across his face. "Forget it! I've got the most fragile stuff out. Go ahead and take it!"

"Thank you," he answered with a smug smile, placing both hands on the frame again. "Ready?"

Knuckles growled, replacing his hands. "Push it, don't push it, make up your mind..."

As the two continued toppling the vessel end over end at the dismay of the pale-furred creature, Zhagohst resumed his topic. "So, now that they're moving, where is this ship of yours?"

He nodded, following in the direction of the rolling pod. "This way..."

Three steps following the fox, Zhagohst stopped, his sight resting on the lone girl sitting by a tree on a nearby hill. "Hold on a moment."

_Perhaps that was a bit harsh...Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her...She was only trying to help, after all...  
_  
"Cosmo?"

The Seedrian jumped, Zhagohst's scratchy voice more than enough to startle the most steeled people. "Uh-I-wh...yes?"

Cosmo's reaction pulled an almost miserable sigh from him. "You also scared of me, then?"

"Uh, no, I just..." Glancing at his tall, creature-like frame, she looked to the ground modestly. "...A little. Sorry."

He groaned, scratching his head. "Such a shame. Anyway, we're leaving. Are you coming?"

"Oh, yes." She rose to her feet, still eyeing him up and down. "Were you...waiting on me?"

He shook his head, turning back down the hill. "Naw, just for Cloudy down there." He lazily swung his arm in the direction of the feline, nervously following behind Spyke and Knuckles as they rolled along one of his pods. "If he weren't so panicky about his equipment breaking, we would probably already be done."

Cosmo stopped at the sight of the others, a question immediately coming to her. "Why am I coming along? Am I going with you all?"

He shrugged. "Apparently. Is that a problem?"

"Mm...sort of. It's just that...I was never even told about it before."

After a brief moment, she continued walking, following him down the hill. He scratched the back of his head, seemingly nervous to answer. "Well, about that...it seems the Yajus and your friend had a little arrangement..."

The insinuation piqued her interest, but it wasn't difficult to work out what he meant. "Do you mean I _have _to go?" Her words contained a noticeable amount of contempt toward the subject.

He sighed, glancing back at her. "That was...the deal..."

"_Deal? _What deal?" She waited for a moment, but at the lack of a response from Zhagohst, she quickly figured the rest. "Tails and Spyke made a bet on my well-being, didn't they?"

"Uh...yeah. The deal was that if we could get your memory back, the whole lot of you would have to come with us to GMF. If we failed, Tails would get all the equipment we had left. Obviously, you can see the outcome..."

Cosmo fell silent. The simple idea of making a bet on whether or not she healed was just awful. The fact that the result of the same bet _also _affected her, without her say, was beyond believable from Tails. _He just did what he could, _she told herself. _Whatever he could do to help his friend, he would do it. Even if it became a bother later on...Who's to say that I wouldn't do the same? _She shook her head. "Did they even consider what I might say on the matter?"

Zhagohst sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. I'm not the mind-reader around here. That's more Clames' field."

The mention of the woman's name shook Cosmo to attention, moving her gaze over to the trees the Kemao had disappeared into. "Clames...I wonder where she went."

He looked back and caught her gaze. "I think she went to your friend's ship. Look at them." He pointed down at the three ahead of them, who were slowly turning the pod around toward the same direction the trees led. "She must have found it during her scouting."

"I see..." She shook her head quietly. _I said some pretty harsh things back there...and she really was just trying to help. I'll have to make it up to her. As for Tails and Spyke...I'll call them on their 'bet' later._

Many hours had passed, and the sun with it. Although dark, the full moon hanging in the sky illuminated the ground to the point of being nearly as visible as daylight, and a crisp breeze filled the air. Spyke and Knuckles had successfully rolled each pod to the area Tails had designated, which was a large, open clearing next to his warehouse. Everyone had gathered with the pods, including, to the dismay of everyone else, the Kemao Jeckres. Fortunately, he seemed to avoid contact with anyone, leaned against the building by his lonesome. Only Sonic seemed to be absent from the group, with the reason of "one last thing to do before going."

In minutes, the absent hedgehog rushed in from over the horizon, a large grin on his face. Spyke was the first to question him. "So what took you? And what's with the stupid look?"

He gave a lazy thumbs up. "Just had to say one last goodbye."

Tails raised an eyebrow at him. "Who?"

"Amy. Just needed to leave a note on her doorstep. I'm sure it'll explain everything."

"That's rather cold, isn't it?" Spyke leaned past him, half expecting someone to be following him. "Just leaving without saying a proper farewell to a friend?"

"Oh, it's fine. Besides, if I told her I was leaving, she would have turned it into one big drama and we would somehow end up taking her with us. It's probably better this way. Of course, I'm not exactly looking forward to coming back, now..."

Tails continued the idea thoughtfully. "And after Amy finds out, I'm sure she'll eventually tell Cream...That's pretty much everybody."

They all stared at each other for a few seconds before Spyke broke the silence with a clap. "Alright, let's get this show on the road! Tails, where's this ship?"

With a proud smile, the kitsune raised an arm up, holding a small remote with a single button on it. He pressed it with his thumb, and a few seconds later the ground began to shake.

A large clearing of grass next to the pods slid open, proving to be a cover of false foliage. The gap was wide, large enough to fit an entire building in. Slowly, a platform rose from inside, the roars of many mechanical systems drowning out every sound emitted nearby. Perched on the large platform was his ship, the Blue Typhoon, complete in what he felt to be its true glory: large underside engines, bridge in the back, and a runway of palm trees across the deck. It had been painted and buffed to a beautiful sheen and looked as if it had never seen a single fight since the time of its construction.

The shaking finally stopped, the mechanical roaring died down, and the Blue Typhoon stared down upon them all. Tails smirked at everyone's silence. "Built it myself! Everything here is entirely custom-made. I made a few improvements since its last flight."

After a few more seconds of silence, Spyke responded, speaking only three words that entirely crushed Tails' morale, confidence, and seemingly smug attitude. "...Is that all?"

Tails felt as if he knees were about to give in. "...wh...what?"

"It's a bit small, isn't it?"

"SMALL?" Tails, Knuckles, and Sonic all shared the same exclamation.

"What do you mean, 'small?'"

Spyke shrugged. "Well, it may not be very small to you, but...well, when you compare _this _to the Bolt..." He pronounced "this" with as much admiration as one would give to someone who had tripped in a crack in the floor. "It wouldn't stand a chance. Are you sure this thing can handle such a trip?"

Tails clenched both hands into fists. "...This is the ship that fought the Metarex and _survived!_ Of course it will make the trip! I can't believe you would suggest otherwise!"

"Ah, well, that's what happens when you get your hopes up, right? You expect a limousine, you get a go-kart. That's my problem, not yours."

Just as Tails made a relatively-threatening step toward the Yajus, Cloudy spoke up from behind. "Come on, Yajus, show the kid a little respect." He stepped past the two toward the ship, scanning over its exterior. "Remember, this kid is only eight cycles of age, and to build a fully-functioning interstellar vehicle on his own is quite an accomplishment. It certainly beats anything I ever did at his age."

"Alright, forget it." Tails waved toward his apparently disgraceful ship. "Just load up."

Spyke nodded, taking a step. That first step was all he took before his TSCA began beeping at a surprisingly high volume. He glanced at the accessory on his wrist, then at everyone in the area. Nobody seemed to be accessing their own device, but rather kept their attention on his. "That...doesn't make any sense. Who could actually reach this...?" He pressed a single button on the TSCA and suddenly moved faster than anyone had ever seen him before. In a single panicked movement, he tore the accessory from his wrist and immediately flung it to the ground, abruptly finishing off the action by crushing the device under his foot.

The viewers stared in confusion, Cloudy being the only one to verbally react. "Spyke, what the hell? Those are expensive! You know I don't have an infinite supply! Why did you do that?"

The Yajus seemed completely oblivious to his complaints. He was breathing quickly, as if stressed. After a few seconds he pointed to Cloudy. "Jaynu. Your TSCA. What does the long-range scanner say?"

Cautiously, the feline raised his own in front of him and began tapping a few buttons. As he stared at the screen his eyes slowly grew wider and wider. Although not evident, his heart began to race.

"What's wrong?" Clames stepped behind him, reading the data over his shoulder. Her expression quickly grew to match his.

"There is...a ship...in orbit around Mobius..." The feline tapped the screen one last time. "And, according to this...the dimensions are..."

Then, simultaneously, Clames and Cloudy read while Spyke recited from memory. "934, 298, 9,831."

Sonic glanced nervously between the three. "...What do those numbers mean...?

Spyke swallowed hard. "Those are the dimensions of the Bolt."

Zhagohst and Jeckres exchanged wide-eyed glances from the distance, both grasping the gravity of the situation.

Spyke spun around to Tails. "Allow us into your ship! Open it! NOW!"

He jumped at the sudden command. "It'll open automatically when you approach it!"

The Yajus turned back to Cloudy, holding his arm out. "Jaynu, another one." The feline reached in one of his numerous pockets and snapped another device on his wrist. "Alright, now go!" He sweeped his gaze over each GMF member. "All of you, GO!"

With a nod and "Sir!" from each, they simultaneously followed the instruction, each racing off toward the ship, a hatch along the bottom stretching out to the ground as they neared.

The remaining four gathered around the Yajus. "Spyke," Sonic asked, worry now reaching his expression. "what's going on?"

Spyke stared at his TSCA for several seconds in silence, snorting at it as it suddenly began beeping. "I thought as much..." He pressed the same button as before, closing his eyes at a voice he had dreaded ever hearing.

An overly-excited voice crackled through the device. "AHA! Spykey-boy! I had a feeling you wouldn't wimp out just yet!"

Spyke stepped back from the four and held his accessory out where they could view the screen. "Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Cosmo... Meet Dareth Wildson."


	7. Chapter 7

As the four stared into the image on-screen, they all agreed on one thing: _There is something wrong with him. _He was as unkempt as could be, pitch black fur that looked as if it had never been groomed before covering him all over, or at least of what could be seen of him. He wore a smile that seemed neither hostile nor friendly, but rather wildly extravagant. A single ear poked out from one side of his head, the other seemingly cut off. Although it could hardly be described as a physical characteristic, his entire being seemed to emanate a sense of sickness, a sense of utterly horrible putridity and disgust that it seemed contagious to any who may be unfortunate enough to view him.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Cosmo stared at this image, and all four felt the effect, as if their stomachs had all turned over.

"Hmph." The figure on-screen, Dareth Wildson, folded his arms, apparently angry at having his view swapped without his say-so. "So who do we have here? It seems Spyke's made some new buddies!" Each syllable seemed to leak out sickness.

Sonic was the first to convince himself to speak. His words held a surprising lack of emotion. "So you're Dareth?"

"You say 'Dareth' like it's a conviction!" His image leaned back in his seat, his eccentric smile reappearing. "I am simply a man trying to fix everyone else's mistakes! Your mention of my name should hold a little more respect and gratitude." For a quick moment, his features were replaced with wide eyes and a flat mouth, then returned to their norm. "Now I know where I've seen you!"

Sonic clenched his fists. Somehow, some way, he knew, and probably would have known without being told, that this man was beyond trouble, that he should be well-hated. "Oh, do you, now?"

"Sonic," he answered without shaking his gaze. "Known by the Letangs as the Approaching Nightmare!" He scoffed. "The _hero _of the Metarex!" He waited for a reply, but Sonic remained silent, staring at his image. Considering himself excused from the topic, Dareth slowly swept his gaze over the other three and rested it on Cosmo.

Her return gaze was far from standard. A single glance into his eyes was all it took to confirm her suspicions. _...This is him. He's the one. He killed Galexina._ The two continued to stare into the other's eyes until Dareth's expression fell. Any hint of a smile dropped from him as he silently mouthed her name. "Cosmo..."

Feeling the need to not raise her voice above his, she mouthed back: "Murderer..."

Without a word, Wildson reached beside him and hit a button, terminating the link. The four stared back at their reflections before Spyke let his arm drop. "What's wrong with him?" Sonic asked, feeling his stomach finally settle.

His face held a look of curiosity. "What makes you think something's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, I just..." He looked at the silent accessory. "I just know there's something wrong with him. I even felt sick just to look at him..."

"You, too?" He folded his arms as all four nodded. "He seems to have that affect on people. You just feel like you're going to die from some illness by just being in his presence." He looked up at the sky. "He's up there. We need to move. _Now._"

Without explaining himself, he ran into the nearest pod, emerging about ten seconds later. As he ran from the pods, they each began to shake and suddenly launched into the air and stuck themselves right and left against the hull of the Blue Typhoon, giving the entire craft a strong jerk.

"That should be good for now," he yelled, joining back up with them. "Let's go!"

Sonic immediately disappeared into the ship, quickly followed by Spyke and Knuckles. Tails ran after them, but stopped and turned in the entrance when he realized the last member wasn't following. "Cosmo? Are you alright?"

The Seedrian stood unmoving, staring at the ground. "That man..."

"What?"

With a long breath, she looked up at the sky. "...Dareth...I think I somehow...know him..."

He raised an eyebrow. "I...don't understand."

"...Neither do I. I've seen him before. At least once." She stood, silently staring at the dark sky. After several seconds, her stoic gaze swapped into a look of shock as the dark gray clouds lit up with a bright, crimson flash. The light show was followed as a single bolt of lightning, the same shade of red, arced straight to the ground, touching down several meters away from the Blue Typhoon. Rather than charred and disintegrated ground, the bolt split into multiple smaller streams, each crawling across the ground in different directions like a skeletal hand attempting to grip the earth. The diameter of the streams were only a few meters in length, coming close to the Typhoon.

As the splitting plasma slowly melted into the ground, many more lights flashed through the clouds, raining down crimson bolts across the ground, some landing far from the ship while others came within meters. They each mimicked the first bolt, spreading across and sinking into the ground upon contact, but seeming to cause no damage.

"What is-AAHH!" Cosmo fell backwards as a bolt landed straight in front of her, the plasma fingers stretching around, but not touching her.

"Cosmo!" Tails took a step forward, but stopped as the hatch slammed shut in front of him, blocking her completely from his sight. Before he had a moment to react, the entire frame shook, knocking him onto his back. This was coupled as he slid sideways across the floor and gently into a nearby wall. "Wh-what's going on!"

As if to answer him, his TSCA beeped and he reflexively tapped the screen, Spyke's face appearing in it. "Everyone alright? Sorry about the sudden takeoff, Cloudy figured out the controls quicker than I thought he would."

"What, we're moving?" Tails leapt to his feet and ran back to the hatch. "We can't just yet! Land!"

"What? Why?"

"Cosmo's still outside!"

"...Dammit!"

Tails felt the momentum weaken and, for a moment, he felt lighter. The Typhoon must have slowed down and landed. Without warning, Sonic suddenly appeared by his side, followed moments later as Spyke emerged from the hall. The expression on the Yajus's face seemed far more enraged than he had seen him before.

Without looking at the fox, he raised his TSCA to his face. "Cloudy, open this thing."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that just yet, Spyke."

This obviously didn't help his mood. "And why not? I thought you were a genius!"

"Well, I am! Unfortunately, there's a link in his system to every door on the ship. The moment we lift off, they all seal! There's an inhibitor to open individual doors. It'll take me a moment to open individuals."

The Yajus snarled loudly, spinning around and punching the wall. He left a sizable dent. "Tails, what's the inhibitor for this door?"

"I think it was a code...three, four, nine, two...if I remember."

"Cloudy! Three, four, nine, two!" The group was silent for several seconds before the hatch door suddenly slid open. Somehow, this _still _didn't help his mood. "Sonic! Get her back here quick!"

Not needing to be told twice, the hedgehog disappeared out the hatch door into the plasma field.

* * *

_We've certainly moved a bit, _Sonic thought as he hopped out of the hatch. The Blue Typhoon was no longer in the large clearing set up for it, but rather bordering the woods nearby it. A few trees had accidentally been mowed down.

Peering beyond the overturned trees, he could make out a small green-and-white figure, obviously Cosmo, in the middle of the clearing. All around her were large crimson veins that seemed to stretch across the ground. From the sky fell shining red bolts that left menacing veins as they hit the ground. _Better get her quick!_

He took off, hopping over an overturned tree and straight toward the clearing. As of this point, the crimson bolts fell all around him, some landing dangerously close. Within moments, he had reached the center of the clearing where Cosmo stood, frenziedly looking around at the veins that had formed a circle around her. With a lazy leap, he landed in the middle of the ruby circle beside her. "Hey, Cosmo, need a lift?"

For a moment, she seemed oblivious to his presence, but quickly noticed the hedgehog beside her. "S-Sonic?" She cringed as another bolt landed beside the two a few meters away, the plasma streams stretching beside them.

Without a word, he reached over and scooped the Seedrian up in both arms without a complaint, and leisurely hopped over the glowing circle surrounding them. He ran at full speed, slightly curving right and left to avoid plasma trails that spread across his path, hopping the few that landed in front of him. In a simple few seconds, he had already reached the overturned tree and had set the girl down next to him.

"Th-thank you..." she whispered, dusting off her skirt.

"No prob, just get in there quickly!"

She turned in compliance, but spun back around as the hedgehog yelled out abruptly. In less time than believable, one stray bolt had touched down...directly on Sonic. It knocked him over and the plasma veins coiled around his entire frame, as if strangling him all over. Although the scene looked ghastly, Sonic seemed to be taking it...rather well, actually. He wasn't struggling, rolling around on the ground in any form of pain, or anything of the sort. Instead, he calmly rose to his feet, casually rubbing the coiled plasma stream across his arm.

"Well, this is strange, innit?"

Cosmo glanced up and down the confused hedgehog's figure, now about half red along with the blue. "Are...are you alright? You aren't hurt?"

He responded with a sudden shiver. "Yeah, I'm fine...just cold. This stuff's...actually rather frigid..." The two stared at the plasma as it continued to stretch and twist across his body, and, having lost interest in his own, Sonic looked out at the plasma sucking on the ground. "What do you think it's supposed to do...?"

A too-familiar voice broke off their thoughts from the entrance of the Typhoon. "WHAT THE HELL IS TAKING YOU SO LONG?"

Sonic cringed. "Oh, right." Without an explanation he swept up the Seedrian and took the last few bounds to the ship, placing her down in front of Tails and one of the angriest people he had seen in quite a while. Spyke glanced and gave a quick nod at the hedgehog, seeming to not acknowledge or simply not care about the plasma streams coiling around his limbs. This came with a confused reaction. "...What does that mean?"

"It means, 'Good job, I'll take care of it from here.' Head to the bridge, and tell Cloudy to get this rig moving!"

With an absent shrug, he did as instructed and casually jogged from the room. Cosmo, however, took a defensive step back, fairly sure of what to expect.

Spyke's attention swapped to the Seedrian and his rage fest began. "You...Do you have _any _idea how much danger you just put everyone in?"

This angered reaction pulled out a defensive instinct in Tails, who immediately stood in between them. "Spyke, calm down! Everyone's alright, aren't they? You don't need to take this out on her-"

Unfazed, Spyke casually reached behind the kitsune and grabbed the scruff of his neck, lifting him until they were eye level. "First of all, you will refer to me as _Yajus, _not 'Spyke.' Second of all, you did nothing wrong-she did. Don't take the rap for her actions. Third of all, with your obvious skills with this craft, you should be at the helm." He placed Tails back down, who rubbed the back of his neck. "Leave me to talk some sense into this kid."

Tails glanced back at Cosmo, who wore a pained expression at his ejection from the argument, and finally did as told, slowly stepping away and down the hall with downcast eyes.

"Now, as for you," the Yajus continued, looking back at the nervous Seedrian. "You just did a pretty damn fine job of jeopardizing everyone on this ship. The longer we stay here, the greater the chance of us getting hit by one of those!" He pointed out the hatch at one of the plasma streams. Moments later, the hatch closed and the two could feel the inertia as the craft once again ascended into the air. "We have _no _time to just be sitting around! Why didn't you climb on with everyone else?"

Cosmo looked down at her feet. There really wasn't a proper way to answer him. The truth was so pathetic a reason. "I was...thinking..."

"_'Thinking'? _That's it? You made us all have to wait for you while you had a little daydream outside?"

"I'm...sorry..."

Spyke face-palmed. "'Sorry'? How the hell will that help when we're scattered into dust?"

"...I'm sorry..." she repeated.

"'Sorry...'" Spyke shook his head. "'Sorry' is a useless little excuse. Next time you decide that you want to wait behind, we're _leaving _you behind! I don't care if you're the last Seedrian or the last whatever, it's not worth putting everyone else into danger! I can't have you loafing around, wasting everyone's time!"

Cosmo purposely looked the opposite direction of the Yajus, attempting to hide the tears forming in her eyes. "...Yes...sir..."

He shook his head and turned down the hall. "Whatever. Get to the bridge. And hurry up!"

* * *

"Now, is everyone alright?" Spyke asked as he sprinted through the bridge's door, Cosmo slowly dragging herself behind him. Cloudy sat at the controls and seemed to be harshly wrestling with them in an attempt to maneuver the craft while everyone else remained on their feet, clutching whatever sturdy structures they could reach. "Have we been hit yet?"

"Not yet," the feline answered, pushing the throttle in his left hand as far forward as it would go while pulling the one in his right back. This action tilted the entire vessel sideways and everyone not properly braced skidded a few feet to the side. "Whoever Dareth hired as his gunner is an infuriatingly accurate shot. Nobody I know could get so close from so far away-"

"Hey!" Clames shouted with resentment from across the room, still hugging onto a wall support beam.

The room became quiet for a moment, save Cloudy's grunting as he continued to pull the Typhoon up. Just as he was beginning to relax, a red bolt shot past the front glass, parting the nearby clouds. The feline straightened himself up once again. "It's times like this I wish Spring was here!"

"Spring?" Sonic called.

"Ace pilot," he answered. "I'll explain later."

"So what's the plan once we get up there?" Knuckles asked, his fists clenched hard enough around the stairs' handrail that it was crunching up like a styrofoam cup.

"We get up there and we take the fight to him," Tails quickly nodded at the echidna, then turned to Spyke, "right?"

"'Take the fight to him'? To hell with that! We're running!"

"RUNNING?" All four non-GMF members exclaimed simultaneously.

Sonic immediately shook his head. "We can't do that! Mobius is down there! If we leave, he'll move in!"

"He will not." Although these words would normally seem encouraging, Spyke managed to make them grim. "Of that much, I can guarantee you."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Sonic, I _know _Dareth. I know how he _thinks._" The Yajus sighed and closed his eyes, growing oblivious to the mysterious red bolts whizzing by the ship. "He's the most ambitious person I've ever met. If he finds a target, he'll pursue it with a one-track mind. If we run, I'm certain he'll follow and ignore everything else. We have something he must want."

"...What would that be?"

"Like I said, I know him. I know what he's become. Sonic, I can tell you stories about him that would make your skin crawl, as if the sight of him wasn't enough. You name a crime, he's done it _and _gotten away with it..." then he added thoughtfully and, obviously, for no efficient reason, "except suicide, of course. That would have made things easy for us." He shook his head and took a quick glance at everyone around him. "I know the type of thing he pursues, Sonic."

The hedgehog gave him a confused glance.

"What I'm saying is that he may be after me. I hope so, but I'm almost certain he isn't. He is sick and cruel in every aspect. If there is something horrible he can do to at least one of us, he'll do it."

"Hey!" Cloudy exclaimed, pulling Spyke out of his grim mood. "Look at that! I've made it! We've left the atmosphere!"

Each person naturally looked out the front glass at the endless ocean of stars against the black backdrop. A bright glow from the planet below them aided their sight, and for a brief instance, the entire situation at hand seemed to elude them, replaced with only the calm, pure tranquility of the emptiness surrounding them.

Then another crimson bolt whizzed past their view and reality returned. Tracing the trajectory of the bolt, a second ship came into view. However, the word "ship" seemed to be an insult in comparison. This machine was beyond measure. It's sheer size was beyond comprehension and seemed as if Mobius would soon begin a new orbit around it rather than its sun. The vessel was built in the shape of a dozen Zs lined up top to bottom and was missing any paint, remaining gray. Across every flat surface were rows upon rows of small-to-large gun turrets. Although it was, in reality, an entire planet's diameter away, its size gave the impression that it was directly upon them.

"What...the hell...is that...?" Knuckles whispered, his jaw hanging open at the sight of the gargantuan machine.

"That..." Spyke nodded out the window, "would be the Bolt." The stunned moment was once again shattered by a crimson flash and a bolt racing just passed the Typhoon.

"What exactly is that stuff, anyway?" Sonic asked, looking himself up and down at the red veins that continued to coil around him.

"Brunswik Dissipator," Cloudy answered, pushing forward on both throttles. "It's harmless on organics, but it'll take some effort to scrub off. It's made to cool and dampen circuitry, sucking its energy dry. A single shot from that on this rig and we're done for. We won't be moving for ages."

Sonic's concern was obviously elsewhere. "So when that stuff was raining all over Mobius, they were safe?"

"Of course. The worst that could happen is if a shot landed on some energy tower and caused a blackout for a week or two."

"This proves my point, though." Spyke shook his head. "He isn't trying to blow us out of the sky. He's just trying to stop us. He wants something."

* * *

His mind was spinning in turmoil. An internal dilemma filling his head, as if it weren't full enough. He had been labeled "Salvator" by the only being that truly understood his motives. But now there was supposed to be a second "Salvator?" _I cannot allow that to happen, _he told himself, and truly meant every syllable.

However, it wasn't only his mind, but another's to argue in. _**Yes, you CAN! You CAN allow it and you WILL!**_

_Calm down. There is only room for one. There is only one that you can trust._

_**If there is, then it is certainly not you! Your actions as of this moment prove it!**_

_But you can trust me. You've been trusting me for this long. Trust me when I say that another Salvator may betray you. If this were to happen, all our plans may crumble._

_**It will NOT happen! Another has been disgraced with my presence, another so in tune with Ahea that they will certainly come to see! You even helped lead to it!**_

_Remember, Ahea. You don't control my actions. You may object until the day I die, but you cannot control me. I will do what I feel is right. For your sake. You will thank me later._

The figure opened his eyes, his gaze resting on the last frame he managed to view before terminating a previous connection to the TSCA. Four figures stood, staring him in the eyes, each with a mix of fear and disgust. _**The second Salvator...**_

_It will not happen._ His room was dark, almost pitch black. One needed dim lights and few distractions when forced to deal with a second conscience swimming through you. Through the large shadow, he managed to discern the face of a comrade. "Itera? Is something the matter?"

The woman named Itera stepped over to his chair and bent down on one knee to match his eye level. "Master Wildson..."

He swapped his gaze from the screen to Itera. Through the dark, he could view her features without an obstruction. Her skin was as soft and pale as silk, her large, blue eyes matching the deepest oceans, her crimson hair reflecting the most heated passion. A face of pure beauty, filled with care and the purest of emotions. He chuckled in response. "Itera, how many times must I remind you that I do not require such formalities?"

She glanced at the floor, then back at him. "My apologies, M- Dareth. I simply wished to inform you that Spyke has left Mobius' atmosphere and seems to be on a direct course to the Serverei Star Lane. Knowing the Bolt's poor engines, they will easily outrun us."

"Haven't we tagged them yet? I figured a Dissipator would have hit them by now."

"Unfortunately, that is not the case, sir...Dareth. Would you like me to have the gunner replaced?"

He shook his head. "No, how else will he learn?" He rose to his feet and offered a hand, pulling Itera up with him and wrapping his other arm around her waist. He slowly walked her across the dark room to the middle, completely empty of any obstacles, and began leading her around and around in circles. "However, my dear, I have a task I wish to accomplish. If I am quick, a Dissipator will not be necessary."

She stared him in the eyes, still stepping around in circles with him. "I've worked with you for a while, now. I've seen things from you I'd rather forget. You are about to depart to them, are you not?"

He smiled a smile that others would find wretched. But not Itera. "Indeed I am."

Her face fell with worry. "I understand that you are what you are, but would this not be a bad time to attempt such a shallow plan? You would be putting yourself into danger, and all for a little _fun?_"

He shook his head and raised his arm up, allowing Itera a twirl underneath before returning to their basic position. "I know it may seem like that at first glance, my dear, but I vow that this is different...however, if the opportunity arrises, I'll gladly take my fill..."

Dareth had stepped her into a position in which she could see his monitor. She took a long look at the image of the four Mobians, understanding what he was now hinting. "...Do you plan to?"

"...Depends... After all, it's about what Ahea wants..." He released her, and, with a single clap, disappeared from sight, reemerging moments later at a far wall. "Itera, I will not be long. In the meantime, I turn over command of this ship to you!"

"Please return soon."

He nodded. "If things go his way, I'll be returning with company!" He laughed loudly for a moment, then bowed to the woman across the room. "Tonight, when this is over with, we feast! The two of us! Maybe more! As if we were a family!"

"...I would like that."

And without another word, the creature, Dareth Wildson, stepped back, slowly disappearing into the wall...

* * *

"How long has it been?" Spyke asked, far more confused than he had been in a while.

"Um...thirty-two minutes?" Cloudy responded, staring at his TSCA. Tails had taken control of the ship while he tampered with his equipment.

"And they haven't fired a single shot?"

"No Brunswik Dissipator bursts have been launched for thirty-two minutes. Yes, Yajus, not a single shot."

He shook his head. "That isn't right. They should be raining on us with those..." He looked through the glass at the gargantuan ship slowly attempting to close the distance between them. "We're within range..."

"Yajus! Bad news!" Cloudy's voice was suddenly alarmed. "Very bad news!"

"What, are they firing again?"

"No, worse! My scanner's picking up a small figure emerging from the Bolt! It speeding toward us at 600 kilometers per second! 650, 700, 775, 900..."

"It's accelerating? What is it?" Spyke, Sonic, and Knuckles all ran over to the side window, peering at the Bolt. A small, glowing bubble seemed to be rocketing away from it, toward the Blue Typhoon, at almost invisible speeds. Watching the blur seemed capable of producing headaches."

"Any clue what it is?" Knuckles asked, forcing his eyes away from the glass.

The Yajus nodded slowly, his eyes widened. "Unfortunately, yes..." He quickly spun around, his gaze sweeping across the room. "Who here cannot fight?"

Meekly, Tails and Cosmo were the only ones who raised their hands.

"Damn..." The Yajus took another glance out the front glass as the bubble raced by it, curving at the last moment and running down the length of the Typhoon. "He's heading toward the engines!" Without needing an explanation, Zhagohst, Jeckres, Cloudy, and Clames took off out the hall door, obviously toward the engine room. He motioned the rest with a wave. "Come on! Get moving! Tails, Cosmo, you two stay here! Make sure this rig maintains its course!"

Sonic and Knuckles glanced at each other with a shrug, then followed the crowd with the Yajus.

* * *

The engine room's door flew open as the hedgehog skidded to a halt in the center, followed a full minute behind by the rest of the group. He stared blankly at the walls and the large, glowing machine at the far wall-the engine's stabilizer.

"Is he here yet?" the Yajus asked, sharing the same survey.

"I don't think so. Everything seems normal here."

"Ha!" Jeckres scoffed, taking a further step into the room while shrinking his weapon with a few button commands. "He must have seen us coming. Good luck stopping our engines while its got some top-notch bodyguards on hand!"

The group looked over at Cloudy as he gave his attention to is TSCA. "...Actually, I don't think his target was the engine."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, looking up from the accessory. "I think it's a trap." As if to confirm his suspicion, the entire room's lights flickered off, filling the entire room with cold darkness. A large slam echoed from behind them, and the lights gradually began to strengthen again. Once they returned, the feline glanced back down at the accessory. "The object has now moved toward the front of the ship..."

"What the hell was that?" Knuckles asked, glancing around the room. Nothing seemed to have happened to any particular member of the group, but(and far more unsettling) the back door had suddenly shut itself and had changed in color from a clean white to an absent black. "HEY! What the hell?" He rushed over to the door and gave it a hard push upward, but to no avail. The door didn't budge an inch, but rather stayed bolted shut. This lack of movement prompted several enraged punches from the short-tempered echidna.

"Oh, that figures!" The Yajus held his head in his hands. "Why didn't I see this coming? Dammit, I'm a fool!" He looked back up at the echidna, still pounding away on the door. "Give it a rest, Knuckles. Dareth has blocked it. See the color change? There's a thin barrier over it. No amount of mindless punching is going to break through that. He's done this before, but I don't know how!"

"Well, we can't just sit here, can we?" Sonic stepped as far away from the wall as possible and bent at the knees, ready for a spin. "If he's locked us in here, then Tails and Cosmo are alone!" With a loud boom, he span into a ball, floating gently in the air.

Knuckles gave the door one final smash and finally stepped away, convinced. "But what could he possibly want with those two? It's not like they've done anything to him."

"I think I know," Spyke responded, paying a bit more attention to the blurred sphere constantly building up potential in the corner. "I hope I'm wrong."

"You said that once before," the echidna replied, "but I didn't actually get it."

"Wildson seems obsessed with genocide. If he can wipe out an entire race, he'll do it. And he'll attempt to draw it out and make it as painful and horrible as possible. I suspect that, by now, he's learned that Cosmo is the last Seedrian." He glanced at Knuckles, then back at Sonic. "Imagine the hell he could inflict upon an eight-year-old girl when he finds out she's the last one?" He glanced between Sonic and Knuckles before resting his gaze on the rest of the group. "I think the lot of you may want to get out of the way...and cover your heads..."

* * *

_Cloudy actually made this look difficult, _Tails thought as he gave the throttles a quick tug, drifting the Typhoon to the side and nearly evading a Dissipator that had suddenly resumed firing. _Despite his apparent genius, piloting must not be his forte... _Stealing a moment of reprieve, he glanced at a nearby corner in which Cosmo stood, staring blankly at the floor. He opened his mouth to converse, but just as he breathed the first syllable another Dissipator flew by the front glass and he returned his attention to the controls.

He waited for another few minutes before finally making his second attempt. "Hey, Cosmo? Are you alright over there?"

She nodded slightly, not averting her gaze. "...Yes..."

He gave the ship another quick jerk to the side. "Are you sure? You're very...quiet right now."

The exact same response. "...Yes..." Her lack of variety in her actions seemed somehow disturbing.

Tails ceased all actions for a moment as he pondered the previous predicament Cosmo had fallen into. "Right... Was Spyke angry?"

The exact same physical response. "...Very..." The two remained in silence for a couple more minutes, save grunts from Tails as he maneuvered the Typhoon to strategically avoid the plasma bolts. With a quiet sigh, the Seedrian looked up at him, a somber expression marking her. "Sorry...about before..."

Another jerk to the side. "What do you mean?"

"For stalling. I delayed everyone... We all could have been killed because of me..."

"Hey, we're all alright, aren't we?" he exclaimed back, causing a surprised jump. "Okay, so we lost a couple minutes and Sonic's half-red. That's no reason for Spyke to get so bent out of shape..."

"But it is!" She wiped away a tear. "We've barely started! We haven't been on this ship for an hour! And I've already almost killed us all! I'm already proving to be little else than a magnet for trouble!"

For a few moments, no plasma passed them by, and Tails took the opportunity to hop out of the pilot's seat and step over to Cosmo, who was quietly beginning to sob. She didn't seem to notice him, so he took a moment to think over what he should do. He went with the only logical action and wrapped both arms around her back, hanging his head over her shoulder. The action was rewarded a startled squeak from her. "Cosmo, we all make mistakes! You just learn from them..." He let go and stepped back from her, looking the Seedrian in the eye. "So don't be so upset. You may have delayed us for a moment, but we all lag behind a little at some point. Now you just know to be a little more punctual."

She looked up at the kitsune, down at the floor for a few seconds, then back at him again. "...Okay..." Completely shattering the moment, the entire craft shook violently and the room flashed red. All hums and sounds from the various machinery fell silent for a moment, then resumed their background noises. The room, however, remained an eery pinkish-red. "Wh-what happened?" Cosmo steadied herself against the wall in preparation for another shake.

"They must have hit us!" Tails answered, quickly returning to the controls. "Our reserve power must have kicked on! No doubt it'll be sapped, too, if we don't move!" The kitsune placed both hands on the throttles. Just as he pushed them forward, however, the room's lights suddenly switched off, filling the space with the darkness of a deep pit. A reddish glow still emanated from the windows.

Cosmo glanced around in the darkness, filled with panic. "T-Tails? Tails, where are you!" She remained unanswered for several seconds. Then, she shrieked loudly as the sound of a very dull thunk came from the control chair, followed by Tails' voice in a chilling yell soaring across the room until he hit the front glass. Something had smashed into him, and hard.

Tails slowly picked himself up off the floor, rubbing the back of his head. This seemed like a joke. A rather painful one, but a joke nonetheless. Who would play this kind of joke? "Knuckles, is that you? Not exactly the time for this, is it...?"

The voice that answered caught him and Cosmo completely off guard. They had heard it not long ago, and it held the same level of putrid sickness that it did then. "Sorry, fox, but I'm afraid your red friend is a ways away..."

Cosmo shrieked, taking a few steps back until she was against a wall. "TAILS? Where are you?" Although it was difficult to tell in the absence of light, a figure, certainly Tails, immediately swept directly in front of her, taking a defensive stance. _Just like with Shadow..._

Tails peered through the darkness and could make out a figure sitting in the control chair. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The voice cackled loudly. The sound was like dragging a blade across rusty metal. "You aren't seriously asking me that, are you? I think you know pretty damn well who I am...or at least one of you should." The figure raised an arm up and snapped its fingers, the lights suddenly returning with the action. The somewhat-familiar figure became apparent-the unkempt fur and ugly features. He was, of course, Dareth Wildson. He stared unblinkingly out the front glass. "I must say, it feels like it was only yesterday that I last saw you..."

Now seeing him in person, Cosmo somehow felt less fear than before. The fear of the unknown leaving her, she stepped forward, past the now-confused Tails. "You..."

The creature's entire body spun to the left, toward her. "Cosmo, it's been a little bit! You didn't see much of me, so I'm not sure if you even remember..." He wore a disturbingly playful smile, obviously taking the entire situation light-heartedly.

She clenched her fists tightly, shaking in anger. "...I remember you... You worked with the Metarex... You killed Galexina..."

He scowled at her for a brief moment, seeming more confused than the situation would call for. "Galexina? Galexina..." Suddenly his eyes widened and his smile returned. "Ah, yes! Galexina, that little Seedrian. She was quite a pretty little flower, wasn't she? It's a shame it came to that... There was so much I had in store for her at the time. We could really have had some fun..."

"You...are..._sick..._" She choked on each word, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Cosmo," Tails calmly asked, taking a step forward in an attempt to half-cover her, "did he really work with the Metarex?"

She slowly nodded, then looked back up at the disgusting beast. "Why did you? Why with the Metarex? They were vile and cruel! They killed their own kind for simply disagreeing with them! Why did it have to be the Seedrians? My friends, MY FAMILY?"

He chuckled loudly, somehow finding delight in her despair. "Yes, the Metarex and I worked together for a little bit. It's a funny story!"

"It's not FUNNY!"

"You don't think so?" he asked, mocking her with a sad frown. "I think it is. A race, so full of itself, tore itself completely apart due to a simple disagreement. It's quite comical how petty-minded some people can be. It was all for business in the end, however. The Seedrians were their choice, however. Not mine. I just joined in the fun."

"...How could you..." she whispered. "How could they...Don't you realize that they were living people?"

He hung his head back and laughed loudly. "Ah, yes I did. Your sister, especially! She was certainly one of the liveliest girls I had ever met! Quite a cutie! I remember her well, now!" He hopped down from the chair and began a short stride toward the two, now showing his accurate height. He seemed about as tall as Spyke, but was much thinner, almost a skeleton. "It takes quite a lady to catch my attention, I'll have you know! Your Galexina certainly hit the qualification! Such a shame she had to be done away with. Although, I must admit, you're pretty good-looking for your age..."

Tails immediately stepped back in front of Cosmo, holding both arms out to his sides to shield her. "You stay the hell away from her!"

Faster than the eye could blink, Dareth had suddenly disappeared from sight, appearing a moment later directly in front of the kitsune, their faces inches apart. Tails' eyes widened as one darkened hand wrapped tightly around his throat, not completely choking him. "Young fox, I hold no ill will against you as of this moment. However, I will warn you now that I'm not celebrated for patience. Stand aside now and I'll spare you. I need the girl." He sighed, feeling the need to correct himself. "_Ahea _needs the girl." Tails managed to mouth the mysterious name before Dareth swung his arm back, flinging him far across the room and surprisingly landing back in his chair. "You'd do well to keep this machine moving," he called back before turning his attention on the girl.

Tails, however, after pulling himself upright in the chair, reached under the controls and pulled out a long pole that he had, fortunately, never bothered to put away. He quickly leapt out of the chair and ran down the stairs toward the two, readying the pole over his head.

Dareth casually turned to face him well before he had come anywhere near, leaving both arms hanging at his side. "You cannot say I didn't warn you." He smiled. "In fact, when I'm done, you won't be saying anything at all." Tails finally caught up to him and swung the pole vertically, aiming directly for his head. Millimeters before contact, Dareth blinked away once again, and the metal rod still hit something. It wasn't Dareth.

* * *

The group had cleared a straight path between the door and the high-speed-spinning ball of potential energy, waiting for the signal to be released. After everyone was well out of the way, Spyke clapped once. "Alright, give it a go!"

There is no living creature alive with the eyes or the brain to properly keep watch on the speed the ball shot out at. Sonic hit the door, without any doubt, but remained lodged into it, spinning in place. The vibrations from the constant impact could be felt all through the room and were sending slightly noticeable splinters through the floor.

Everyone stood by, watching in anticipation at the spinning ball. Sonic continued to roll for minutes upon minutes, his spin gradually slowing down until it could no longer induce migraines in those attempting to focus their vision on him. He finally stopped, untucking out of his spinball to examine his work. "...How the hell?" The darkened door was perfectly intact. He stormed away from the door, back to the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Jeckres scoffed from over in the corner. "That was your best move, wasn't it? If it doesn't get any better than that, then don't waste your energy..."

The entire group stood in silence for several moments before the Yajus spoke up. "...I think I may have an idea..." He stepped over to the Kemao and held his arm out. "Jeckres, may I see K'Natata?"

Jeckres glared for a brief moment before reaching within his jacket and pulling out the small, all-too-familiar pole and placing it in Spyke's hand. "Have fun."

Spyke tapped a couple buttons, opening the weapon until it was a simple wide paddle, without the spikes. "Sonic, could you go back into your spinball, please?"

* * *

Tails dropped the pole to the floor, staring down at Cosmo with wide eyes. "C-Cosmo..." The damage wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't good. Cosmo had fallen into a sitting position, her back against the wall, and was propped up on one arm with her other over the top of her head. Surprisingly, the shot did not even draw blood. "Cosmo..." He dropped down on his knees so that they were eye-to-eye. "Cosmo...I'm so sorry..."

Her eyes were widened and she seemed somewhat dazed. "It...it's...al...right..."

Dareth's voice from behind Tails continued its mocking. "Bit of an unfortunate accident, really... Any idiot could have guessed I would do that."

Tails gave the Seedrian his arm, helping to pull her to her feet. She seemed to be in decent health, save a little stumbling. _Good thing I have no muscle whatsoever,_ he thought. They both stared into the short gap between them for a brief moment before Dareth pulled them back to reality.

Cosmo's eyes widened as Dareth's wiry-furred claw wrapped firmly around Tails' throat from behind, squeezing tightly as he was lifted into the air. Dareth's expression had lost the sense of amusement that it previously held and was replaced by simple annoyance. "I warned you. I gave you a chance. Now, you will suffer for not complying." The girl shrieked as he swung his arm sideways, flinging the kitsune into the far wall. In less than a second, Dareth was already standing over him, for some reason pointing his arm toward the ceiling. "And now, my dear," he called back to the Seedrian, "you will get to witness, and he will be given the privilege to experience, the exact consequences for disobedience!"

He slowly swung his arm around in the air, seeming to weave a symbol in foreign writing above him. He quickly finished the symbol and pointed down at the immobilized kitsune. Both their bodies seemed to flash with a shade of pitch black and as the light left, Tails suddenly screamed out with ear-splitting volume, writhing and twisting on the ground in agony. Dareth kept his finger pointed down at the fox, and seemingly the effect with it, indifferent to his pain.

"STOP!" Cosmo ran over to Dareth's side, staring in shock at Tails' writhing figure. "Please, stop this! You're hurting him!"

He kept his hateful gaze on the fox. "He...was...warned..."

She worriedly alternated her view between the two, resting on Tails. "Please, stop this! You can't do this to him!" Winning no response from the sadistic beast, Cosmo closed her eyes and, with as loud a shriek as she could muster, placed both arms on him and shoved her entire weight at him. The movement caught the beast off guard as he stumbled a little sideways, Cosmo collapsing on the floor next to the kitsune. Apparently the sudden attention swap broke Dareth's spell over him, as he stopped squirming, now wrapping his arms and tails around his body while shivering violently. Cosmo crawled over him and took his head in her arms, hugging him close to her while whispering meek apologies.

Dareth, of course, was unpleased by her action. He regained his balance from the rather weak tackle and stepped over the two, his looming figure casting a shadow that seemed just as menacing and sick as his own self. "I warned you before that, besides toward my allies, I am not considered patient. Nor am I tolerant of such disobedience." With a quick snatch, he grabbed a lock of Cosmo's hair and yanked her up off her feet. She shrieked loudly in response, immediately grabbing hold of and pulling on his arm in an attempt to lessen the stress on her scalp. He scoffed, using his free hand to grasp both arms by the wrists, purposely replacing the strain on her hair again. He raised the screaming Seedrian up to his height, staring her in the eye. His gaze somehow petrified her to the point of forgetting the pain. "...Ahea says that you're to be the next Salvator. I find that very unlikely." He stomped over to a near wall, leaving the shuddering kitsune on the floor, and smashed the back of Cosmo's head into it.

Cosmo merely squeaked in response, unable to make much movement. "...please...stop..."

"You're _weak! _You're _frail! _You're _clumsy! _You prove to be little more than a _burden _to those around you! You _can't _fight!" Each accusation was accompanied with a bash of her skull into the wall. "Others are _constantly _having to protect you, hurting themselves in the process! Just look at that fox! If it weren't for you hiding behind him, he wouldn't be in this position! You are nothing more than trouble for others and your own damn _self!_" He released her arms and hair, but immediately batted her down with a sharp backhand, leaving her crouched into a ball, sobbing on the floor. He looked straight at the ceiling, as if something was there. "Ahea! You were wrong! This is no Salvator! This is a child! A weak, worthless waste of flesh without any spirit! Look at her! No Salvator would cry at this! A true Salvator would stand up, would fight back! Why should I believe you now?" For several moments he stood in the same unchanging position, finally breaking out of it with a disgusting smile upon his face and a simple scoff. He reached down and yanked the Seedrian up by her hair once again, slamming and pinning her against the wall. She stared back at him with widened, terrified eyes. "Cosmo," he chuckled. "A Salvator you may not be, but I think I could still find some use for you..."

Cosmo, on some level, seemed to be ignoring his words, gazing over his shoulder at the almost-motionless kitsune curled up in the middle of the floor. Dareth caught the gaze, reestablishing the attention with another smash of her head into the wall. She felt her throat close, only half from the pain. _Tails isn't moving... Oh, God, please don't let him be..._

"Like I was saying," Dareth continued, smiling even wider, "you are certainly no Salvator, despite how much Ahea may argue. I should kill you on the spot." She squeezed her eyes shut at the thought, reopening them at his next comment. "However, I think I'll let you live. I think I may still find some use for you... After all, like your sister before you, you are actually..." He purposely chuckled for the effect. "...quite a cutie."

Cosmo paled and turned rigid, her eyes wide in shock. "...N-No...No..."

He laughed loudly into the air, delighting in her response. "You may not hold any real value to our plan, but I'm certain you could keep me entertained! You would make an excellent _pet! _Young, calm, quiet..." He swiftly looked her up and down. "A gentle, slender frame...Beautiful beyond words, and only at the age of eight cycles... Makes one wonder how you could grow to be after some time...And there's something about seeing you in such _pain,_ your face so filled with tears, that one could easily get used to... And a low pain threshold, how refreshing! Yes, the perfect pet!" Whereas Cosmo looked on in horror, Dareth's expression suddenly turned more serious. "However, Ahea still believes you to be the second Salvator. At the very least, I'll comply with his wishes... Let's see if your mind is truly as compatible with his as he thinks..."

He placed a single hand on her forehead and pushed. Cosmo screamed out as the pain, anguish, and terror of _Ahea _slowly began to sink in...


	8. Chapter 8

Spyke, with Jeckres' weapon in a baseball stance, stood behind Sonic, who had begun a second spinball. He floated a foot in the air and was causing a vacuum that forced the Yajus to dig his spiked feet into the steel floor. He glanced over at the Kemao with a half-apologetic smile on his face. "Jeckres, just letting you know, but K'Natata may break..."

Jeckres, who remained sitting with his back in a corner, shrugged and sighed. "Whatever, Spyke. Just do it. You'll make me a new one."

The Yajus chuckled, looking back at the rapidly spinning blue sphere in front of him. "Like I know how to do that... Blue boy, you ready!" Sonic didn't, or rather couldn't, answer, as a full-forced swing of the paddle smashed into him.

The lone force of Sonic's spinball held strength, but was unable to damage the door before. However, Spyke held as much muscle as Sonic did speed. The combined potential energy with the force of Spyke's swing released the hedgehog faster than any known machine could possibly record. His motion created a whirlwind through the room for a brief moment that pushed everyone back into the walls they were closest to. However, it lasted for only a moment, as Sonic seemed to have completely disappeared from the room.

Spyke pushed himself off the back wall and looked upon the result of his work. Where the darkened door once stood was now a large hole, the high-pitch sound of an object traveling beyond the sound barrier pouring through it. The Yajus casually stepped through, the rest of the group following at spontaneous moments. As he glanced around the corner, Spyke couldn't help but have a quick laugh. He had found Sonic. He attempted to force his eyes to follow the blue sphere, which at this point had lost much momentum, as it ricocheted back and forth between the same two walls, and dug his feet into the floor, reaching both arms into Sonic's pointless path. He caught the hedgehog, but the remaining momentum smashed him into the wall with the last movement.

After a brief moment, the two pulled themselves off the floor, Sonic still stumbling with a hand over his face. "I...don't..." He braced himself against the wall with his other hand. "...How fast was I going?"

Cloudy stepped by them, searching his brain for a suitable analogy. "...Like greased lightning striking a speeding bullet stuck in a bat out of hell."

"Oh...wow..."

The crushing pressure against her forehead had long left, but the touch was far more than enough. Cosmo lay curled on the floor with her head cradled in her hands, shrieking in agony. With a single touch from Dareth's black hand, a maelstrom of agony coursed through her mind, as if tearing apart her very sanity. The feel of lightning coursing through her brain was unbearable, and as she managed to pry her eyes open all she could see was the cold, dark palette in which no other image may surface. She closed her eyes again, concentrating, willing the pain away. However, the harder she fought, the worse it became.

The pain grew and spread, now encompassing her entire body like an inferno engulfing a meek sprout. She writhed, clutching at her arms and legs as the feeling slowly reached such a macabre epitome that she could almost feel as her skin tearing back. Then, as if she had received mercy, the fire and the lightning, the figurative blades against her skin, and the murderous, unending panic lifted, as if they were a thin blanket pulled away. Breathing heavily and with tears streaming down her face, Cosmo slowly pulled herself to her feet, steadying herself against the wall. She had kept her eyes shut, fearing what she may see, but now opened them. Just as moments before, there was nothing but the cold blackness. However, across the room, standing out with a somehow depressing light, was the familiar kitsune, still motionless on the floor. The sight of his sprawled figure filled her with sorrow. Cosmo took uneasy steps toward him, the same words repeating through her head: _Be alive, be alive, be alive..._

"Kind of painful to look at, isn't it?" Cosmo stopped and spun around to see the menacing creature from before. Dareth, surprisingly, did not wear his unsettling grin, but rather a solemn, serious look. Although he didn't glow in the same way as Tails, he still seemed to stand out against the sheer darkness. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Does he still live?" He snorted as Cosmo glanced back at the kitsune before resting her gaze on him. "Forget him. I would be far more worried about you right now." He began taking strides toward the Seedrian, who naturally began taking steps back. "I was wrong. Ahea was far more correct than I had realized. The two of you can connect. Perhaps even more than I..."

Cosmo jumped as she suddenly felt herself against what had to be a wall. The murky ebon disguised all objects, even the wall to her back. She glanced over at the motionless kitsune, the light around him beginning to dim. "...Please..." Cosmo looked back at the still approaching creature. "...I don't know what you want, or why you're doing this... Do what you want with me! I don't care! Use me however you please! Just help Tails!"

Dareth looked over at the subject, actually considering the Seedrian's offer. Eventually he shook his head, focusing his attention back on the girl. "Too much trouble. Besides, it's not as if I'm asking your permission." He held his arm out in front of him and the sudden crash of glass breaking filled the room. Hundreds of shards of jagged glass flew over to and formed a circle around his wrist, the sharpest edges pointed directly at Cosmo. "If I want you to do something, if I want something from you, if I want _you..._then I'll take what I want. I don't need your permission." He closed his hand into a fist and each shard shed away fragments of themselves until they resembled small darts. "Now hold still..."

Cosmo squeezed her eyes shut as the first dart began its movement, sticking into the wall less than an inch from her face. Each dart followed suit, shooting off toward the Seedrian. A few seconds passed, the only sound being the rain of glass arrows into the wall. The near silence was broken as Cosmo screamed out, the darts now purposely landing closer, nicking across her skin in various places. The blade rain suddenly stopped as Dareth spent the last of his ammo, Cosmo now bringing herself to open her eyes. Wildson balanced one last dart on his finger, larger than the others.

"I must say, I'm jealous..." Dareth shook his head, the glass still perfectly balanced. "And here I thought I would be the one choice of Ahea." He sighed and suddenly disappeared, a horribly enraged expression flashing upon his face in his last moment of visibility. The sharpened glass floated in the same position as before, but seemed to be slowly increasing in size. Cosmo took this moment to attempt to pull herself off the wall, but remained stuck, her clothes pinned to it. She looked back up at the glass, which had now grown to the size of a full-length mirror.

However, instead of reflecting her own body, a foreign image filled the glass that was most certainly not Cosmo. It's body was thin and wrapped in a black cloak. From its left sleeve emerged a skeletal arm, the hand disembodied and floating inches away. The right sleeve hanged loosely without an arm to occupy it. From the skeletal collarbone was a large feline-shaped head, pointed ears erecting from the top.

Cosmo stared in horror at the reflection, one single detail being pulled from her memory and placed directly in front of her. The entity wore no face on its head, but rather a single large, pulsing, horribly bloodshot eye, its gaze sharper than the cut glass. The eye gave off the same sick, hopeless feeling that radiated from Wildson, but coupled with it was such terror that she could do nothing else but stand, the feeling of ice pouring through her body. The entity's reflection stared into her silently for several moments. Finally, the eye flashed, shattering both glass and darkness at once, leaving her back in the empty room.

She looked around in a panic. Wildson had disappeared, along with the horrid image. Tails was still motionless on the floor. At last, her gaze rested on the room's entrance, which housed Sonic. He was looking straight down the stairs at the kitsune, slowly shaking his head. He quietly whispered his friend's name before slowly making his way down the steps.

"Sonic!" Cosmo attempted to move her arm, which remained pinned to the wall. Her call didn't seem to affect the trance-like state he was in. "Dareth's still here! Wake up!"

The hedgehog stopped halfway between the steps and Tails, staring down silently at the fox. "Dareth's still here..." He whispered the words quietly to himself, then hung his head back. "DARETH! STOP HIDING! WHERE ARE YOU!" His sudden rage filled both Cosmo and even himself with ice.

The familiar voice came from the top of the stairs. "Jeez, calm down. No need to yell." Wildson leaned back in the captain's chair, in Tails' chair, with his feet propped against the control panel. "After all, I'm in the same room. It's not like I couldn't hear you."

Sonic stared with as much rage as he could give off, Dareth's radiated sickness seeming to not even faze him. He clenched both fists tightly, shaking all over. "...What have you done to him...?"

He shrugged, chuckling under his breath. "Technically speaking, it was the fox that attacked me. I warned him what would happen. This is what happens when someone doesn't heed such warnings." He gave a mock frown. "It saddens me to say that he probably only has minutes left. His heart should be slowing to the point of stopping by now."

_Minutes left..._ Sonic though. _So there's still time..._

Dareth instantly disappeared, reemerging at the opposite wall. "Sonic...the 'Approaching Nightmare', as the Letangs have called you."

Sonic turned around to face him again, but he had once again vanished. He, instead, looked at the pinned Seedrian. "And Cosmo? What have you done to her?"

His voice continued from somewhere in the room. "I have long awaited this day. I can now honestly say that I have met the manipulator of the Chaos Emeralds. Now, what if I can do better?" Now from somewhere else. "What if I can honestly say that I have _defeated _the manipulator? Such respect that will earn..."

_The others will be here soon,_ Sonic told himself before looking back up. Dareth had now appeared next to Cosmo, the girl staring wide-eyed in terror. "Dareth!" Sonic bent slightly at the knees, ready to run. "You've caused enough damage already! You aren't going to just walk away from this, I swear!" He growled loudly before continuing. "Everything you've done to Tails I'll make sure is done to you!"

Wildson smiled from across the room. "Excellent." Again, he vanished, but this time reappeared a few yards away from the hedgehog. Upon his reappearance, he had suddenly pulled out his choice weapons: a short blade in each hand. However, instead of gripping the hilts as one would with a sword, he had run a finger through a ring carved in the back of each and was leisurely swinging them back and forth like pendulums.

Sonic glanced behind him at Cosmo. "Hold on, kid. I'll take care of him quickly."

"Let us see," Wildson responded.

* * *

_I should have known this would happen..._ Spyke thought as he sprinted down the hall toward the bridge. The rest of the group followed closely behind him, besides, of course, Sonic, who had run on ahead. _Leave a group alone with no means of defending itself and it will become the prime target..._

"So you still think Dareth was behind that door and those lights?" Knuckles panted along beside the Yajus.

"Without a doubt! I know him. He only likes to pick fights that he thinks he can win. With all of us out of the picture he would have no problem picking on those two! If we were all against him at once, he would struggle..."

"We've fought him a few times before," Clames added, her eyes strictly to the front. "His tactics are awkward, but we've figured them out. If we pay attention it's a relatively easy fight. I'm worried about Sonic, though." The entire group slowed down to turn a corner, then continue straight ahead. "He's never dealt with him before! I hope he's a quick learner..."

"Sometimes," Knuckles remarked.

"Hold on a moment," Clames suddenly blurted, skidding to a stop. The rest of the group followed the action. She looked back down the corridor to find it expectantly empty. "Where's Jeckres? Wasn't he with us?"

"Probably lagging behind on purpose," Spyke growled, shaking his head. "After all, this is Cosmo we're trying to help. Just leave him." He once again picked up the run, everyone following behind once again.

* * *

Sonic and Dareth stared each other down in silence for several moments, each awaiting a move from the other. Cosmo remained pinned to the wall, no longer bothering to free herself. Tails, however, was still sprawled across the ground, now demonstrating slight motion from occasional twitching.

Dareth was the first to move, suddenly disappearing from sight. Sonic took a step forward, fists clenched tight. "Dareth! Get down here and fight!"

As an answer, a loud swish of air roared at him from behind. Sonic turned around in time to see one of Wildson's blades spinning through the air at him at high speed. He leaped to the side, barely avoiding the sharpened steel as it ricocheted off the floor, launching back up into the air. As the hedgehog took a brief moment to watch the airborne weapon, another swish of air roared from across the room, Dareth's second blade now rushing at him. With even less time to spare than previously, Sonic quickly ducked into a ball, the weapon bouncing off the wall behind him. Sonic had enough time to unroll and realize that the first blade had disappeared from the air and was now held by the homicidal creature hanging from the corner of the far wall. With a quick spin that shook the air in the room, Wildson released the weapon once again, the speed giving Sonic less than a second to dodge to the side, which he proved possible.

_I think I see it,_ Sonic thought, rolling away from and ducking a total of four spinning blades that Dareth continued to warp with and catch out of the air, flinging them back a moment later. _He throws both, warps to one, catches and throws it, warps to the other, does the same thing, and repeats._ He found himself ducking and dodging several pieces of sharpened metal as the thoughts played through his head. _I can't even do anything but dodge! If I stop for even a moment, I'll be sliced to ribbons!_ _I can't even get enough time to start a run!_

Dareth's strategy continued exactly as Sonic had predicted, warping and throwing, warping and throwing, never staying in a single place for more than a half-second. The blades didn't seem to slow down: in fact, they seemed to be gaining speed, taking less and less time to fly at the slowly wearying hedgehog. Eventually, Dareth's constant, versatile attack took a great increase in speed as he ceased the catch-and-throw technique, now barely tapping on the ringed handles of the blades to send them in a different direction. The attack became less direct, each blade ricocheting off of multiple walls before launching at the hedgehog. The extra movements in the air, however, did little to slow the blades as their constantly increasing speed compensated for the extra airtime.

Sonic yelled out as one of the blades nicked across his rib, cutting with a noticeable depth. He was too slow to dodge. Each blade that fell at him met their mark, nicking into his arms, legs, and ribs. The blades continued to ricochet off every surface, but seemed to avoid Cosmo, who had long since squeezed her eyes shut in fear.

Through the whirlwind of blades and metallic clanging came Dareth's voice from multiple places in the room, as he seemed to occupy them all. "What's this? Is the 'Approaching Nightmare' slowing down? HA! You're no nightmare at all! How could the Letangs ever fear you?"

Sonic found the blades gradually launching from his right, now having to turn the same way in order to, however briefly before being forced to dodge to the side, witness their approach. Eventually he found himself having to rotate in a slow circle, along with the occasional jump to the side. Turn, jump, still get cut, turn, jump, get cut, turn, jump, get cut...

Fatigue began setting in faster than he believed as he quickly received more and more minor cuts. The room seemed to be spinning faster and faster between the flashes of metal bouncing all around him. Almost as if to provide relief, the blades suddenly disappeared, the repeated clanging and cuts ceasing with them. Sonic braced himself against the wall behind him, attempting to blink the sense back into his eyes.

A dark blurred figure, certainly Dareth, appeared directly in front of him, the two pieces of sharpened metal hanging from each hand. There was a sharpened swing of black and steel and a single impact, so much like a sledgehammer, lifted his entire frame off the ground and through the air, flinging him head over heels and into the wall beside the pinned Seedrian. He collapsed on the floor, barely conscious enough to make out the Cosmo's and Dareth's blurred images...

"Well, thus ends that little moment, wouldn't you say?" Wildson marched over to the barely-conscious hedgehog and gave him a swift kick in the jaw, knocking him clean out. "Some 'Nightmare' this one turned out to be. I've had worse dreams about other woodland mammals."

Cosmo built up the courage to open her eyes and glance down at the beaten-down hedgehog, quickly looking away at the depressing sight. She turned her gaze on the stoic wolverine in front of her. "You...didn't..."

"He lives. I must admit, I didn't exactly give him the fairest fight. I'm sure I would have had a bit of a problem if he had gotten moving. I heard he's fast...and I'm sure I would have been given a chance to find out for myself if I didn't take care of things." He glanced back at the kitsune. "One's enough for now, wouldn't you say?"

"Then...please...not even one! Just help Tails! He's hurt!"

Wildson looked away from her, staring at the wall for a long moment. Suddenly, before one's eye could blink, he spun quickly, his blades concocting what could be considered a small whirlwind around him. He released the swords at the climax, planting them into the wall on either side of the Seedrian's head, inches away from the extent of her hair. She squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment with a gasp, slowly opening them after. "Listen to you," the wolverine continued, staring hatefully through squinted eyes. "So selective. He's not the only one, you know. Sonic lives, but I didn't say for how long, did I?"

"...But...you said..."

"'Save Tails, save Tails.' That's all I hear from you. Do you only care for him? Sonic lay here next to you. He is moving little more than that fox. Does that not bother you?"

"...I...of course! Why..."

"I can't call it selfish," he continued, twirling a sword around on his finger. "I think 'biased' would be the word. It's rather clear where your loyalty lies..." He suddenly stopped the sword and pointed both at the two unconscious Mobians. "Quick, Cosmo! Tell me! Of these two, who shall get to live? I have a feeling I already know the answer!"

She looked on, her expression unchanging. "You can't... No..." She shook her head violently, squeezing her eyes shut. "You can't do this! Both of them! Let them live!"

He suddenly appeared inches from the Seedrian's face, whispering with a sharp tongue that convinced her to look again. "I already know good and well... If I kill the hedgehog, you will be angry. You will cry, you will yell, you will curse my name... But the fox..." He looked back at the subject, then again at the girl. "I can see it in your eyes. You don't have to say anything. You would be broken. Your favorite little person, the light leaving his eyes..." He instantly disappeared, materializing near the kitsune. "I must admit that I'm jealous, though. I don't think I've met a girl who would be so badly hurt to see _me _die. But I'm sure that, given time, you and I will become the best of friends..."

Cosmo continued to stare, her eyes carrying more rage and confusion than she could muster. "Why are you doing this to us! To Tails, to Sonic, to me? We haven't done anything to you!"

"Ah, but it _was _your intention to, eventually. Why else would GMF take you along for the ride? Besides, I've already explained this. Although I'll admit this started as 'just business...'" He smiled widely, revealing his sharpened teeth. "it has grown to be the most enjoyable type of 'personal.' Like I said, there is something about your latent structure, your features so full of pain and tears, your misery, your anger..." He disappeared yet again, reappearing with an arm across Cosmo's shoulders. "Somehow, there is something in all of it that I can find...refreshing."

Cosmo attempted to lurch herself away from him, but remained pinned. Her struggling came to an abrupt end as she heard the sound of fabric suddenly tearing.

Wildson laughed loudly at the ceiling for a moment before settling his attention on her again. "Go ahead, run. Get away! You know you can. Of course..." He glanced down at the skin visible between the torn fabric at her hip. "That might get even worse."

She squeezed her eyes shut again, attempting to curl up as best as possible at the moment, tears now pouring down her face. "You're sick... You're disgusting! Why would you even think..."

He circled around in front of her and grabbed a lock of her hair, yanking her head toward him. "Oh, if you think things are bad now, just you wait..."

He lifted his other arm and slowly moved it toward her. However, he stopped and yanked back as a new voice filled the room. "WILDSON! GET BACK!"

The wolverine looked over his shoulder to the entrance, growling at the sight of a certain copper-plated figure. "Spyke. You know, I should have figured to seal you all back in the moment that hedgehog showed up..."

"Let her go, Dareth! She's no threat to you. However I wouldn't say the same about us!"

"Heh... Then where is everyone else?" He spun around, giving his black cloak an overly-dramatic flick through the air. "I seriously doubt you would come in here on your own. Should I be expecting some kind of surprise?"

The Yajus smiled, (over)confident in himself. He nodded slightly at the hall behind him. "Clames, surprise."

There was a loud crash, followed by a sudden metallic screeching as a blurred figure, the only thing evident being a large set of butterfly wings filling the entrance. The swishing wings obscured the long, metallic object held in her hands, which was swung like a blade down toward Wildson. A loud, high-pitch screech echoed from the pole at the middle of the swing, ending with a large crash and splintered ground where Dareth _had _stood. Once again, he disappeared from sight, but had removed his weapons from the wall. Where the shot had landed was now a large crater in the steel, the borders of which were now lined with flames.

Clames folded her wings into a cloak around her and aimed the spear(which apparently doubled as a rifle of sorts) down the steps, staring down its shaft. Spyke motioned toward the room's interior and the slender, wire-furred Zhagohst leapt in, landing on and digging his claws into the far wall across the room, his eyes scanning over the area in anticipation. In the corner, Tails' body suddenly disappeared from sight and reappeared at the top of the steps, Cloudy setting him gently on the floor as he emerged from some form of personal cloaking. By Sonic's side stood the dreadlocked echidna, fists raised in a defensive stance.

"Come out, Dareth!" Spyke bent at the knees, ready to make a leap. As if answering his call, the wolverine materialized in the center of the room, floating many feet off the ground. The Yajus kicked off the ground, speeding at him like a rocket with one fist readied behind him for a punch. Just as he neared and threw his arm forward, Dareth, of course, vanished yet again and his bronze fist smashed into the wall, cracking the metal around it and leaving him immobile. However, this did not seem to worry him as he looked to the mongoose positioned beside him. "Ready, Zhag?"

Zhagohst answered with a quick nod and a grunt, staring at the corner near the entrance. The wolverine appeared directly in his line of sight and spun, hurling a single sword at the immobile Yajus. "Clames!" He roared out the name and leapt off the wall, swinging a clawed arm at the weapon and sending it directly at the Kemao. Upon his landing he extended his claws to their full length, his headband unfolding into the lens once again, and readied himself on all fours.

Clames waited for a long moment with the scope of her rifle aimed directly at the blade, the sharpened metal spinning directly toward her. Only feet away from her, she noticed the spin suddenly stop. Taking it as a signal, she squeezed an obscure trigger and the high-pitch screech returned. However, it did not hit solid ground as before, but rather flesh. The blade disappeared and Wildson materialized in the center of the room once again. However, this time, his entire frame was engulfed in flames. He roared loudly in agony, thrashing around and waving his weapons midair.

Zhagohst leapt once again, corkscrewing with his claws spread outward. He collided into Dareth's flaming figure and knocked him forward, smashing him against the wall ahead. The wolverine fell straight downward toward the only one in the room who hadn't received a piece of the action: Knuckles.

The echidna clenched both fists tightly and reared a fist back, watching as Wildson quickly descended. He continued to scream even as he fell within feet of him, his eyes portraying both madness and pain. Knuckles growled deeply. "Lights out, freak!" He threw his arm forward with a full swing, his fist crashing against the skull of the beast. Wildson arced upwards once again and smashed against the ceiling, disappearing yet again after the impact.

He appeared once more in the center of the room, but this time panting on the floor, his frame still engulfed in flames. The group of currently able-bodied fighters stood, surrounding him, Cloudy excusing himself to go pull the glass out of Cosmo's clothes. He hanged his head back and bellowed loudly, "AHEA!" Strangely, a large bubble surrounded him for a brief moment, then popped, leaving a large puddle around him and putting out the fire. He was now even more a mess than before, charred fur, multiple deep cuts pouring blood, and a large gash in his head.

Spyke managed to free his arm from the wall and joined the group around the wolverine. "Dareth, how long are you going to keep playing us for fools?"

The creature only roared loudly in protest.

"I have had to fight you so many times that I should know by now. Warp, throw, warp, throw. That's all you ever do! You're pathetic!" He raised both arms in a combat position. "You're weak! You led us away, just so you could pick on some kids? How low a level will you bring yourself to?" He looked to the other side of the circle at Knuckles. "Knuckles, you said _I_ can't win in a fair fight? Look at this man! This sad _excuse _of a man! He knows he can't win so he fights with trickery and attacks defenseless children!"

"_**SHUT UP!**_" Dareth screeched at an ear-splitting volume, rising to his feet while cradling his head in his hands. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUUUP! _**YOU!**_" He spun and pointed his weapon at Cosmo, his madness-filled voice petrifying her on the spot, despite having now been unpinned from the wall. "FORGET THE SALVATOR! AHEA WAS WRONG! YOU, JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM, WILL **BURN!**" He looked around at the people surrounding him, his voice now quieter, but no calmer or less chilling. "None of you have seen hell...Not yet! But by the power and the purpose given to me, I will see each of you there, one by one. Ahea's infinite void will smother you all, he will drown out your light, your hope I'll see vanish...You will all know despair, you will know the terror, I will see you all...burn." And, with his last warning, the wolverine wrapped himself in his cloak and disappeared for good.

* * *

"CHANGE OF PLAN!"

Itera jumped, rising quickly from her partner's seat. "M-Dareth! Are you back already?"

The wolverine stumbled through the wall, tripping and falling face-first on the floor. Within the darkness, Itera could easily see him, and more importantly, his wounds. He was already pouring blood.

"Dareth!" She ran over and knelt down next to him, taking his clawed hand into her arms. "Dareth, you need a surgeon! I'll find one with haste!"

"NO!" He grabbed, squeezing her wrist with a single hand, his claws digging into her flesh. "I'll see him myself. There is a change of plans! Forget the second Salvator! Burn their ship! Tear them apart! Spyke must not be allowed to leave!"

She nodded, lifting her arm. On it rested a modified version of GMF's TSCA, which she hastily tapped the screen of. "Gunners! Cancel the Dissipators! Divert all energy to Nanomanipulators! Tear them up before they reach that Star Lane!"

Dareth pulled himself up, slowly limping toward the door. "That Lane is to Serverei, isn't it?"

She gave the TSCA a second tap, terminating the link. "Um, yes. It is."

He shook his head, grimacing from a particularly painful step. "Nanomanipulators are short range. I don't think we'll reach. And it will take too long to swap the main cannons out. Send Sagittarius to Veni Serverei."

She raised an eyebrow, slightly confused. "Veni? Are you sure they'll even land there?"

He roared loudly in response, slashing the steel door in front of him in. He took a moment to calm himself, panting heavily. "I'll make them land..." And without another word he phased silently through the door.

* * *

"Alright! We're not out of the woods just yet!" Spyke rushed over to the collapsed hedgehog and lifted his arm up, placing two fingers on his wrist. After a moment he scowled, noticing a very standard heartbeat. "Alright, wake up!" He threw the arm to the ground and reared his arm back, smashing his spiked fist against the side of his head. Sonic flipped completely over but opened his eyes, rubbing a hand over the lump just made. The Yajus shook his head at him. "Get your lazy rear up! We're not done!"

"You do realize," Cloudy remarked, closely studying the sharpened glass in his hand, "that, although you just woke him up, you could have killed him?"

"Either way, it's an improvement."

Cosmo, ignoring both the argument and the glass-made cuts she had received, ran up the steps and knelt down next to the motionless kitsune, running a hand over his face. She looked back down the steps, anger marking her expression. "Cloudy! Help him!"

The feline glanced at her, then exchanged glances with the Yajus. "Can you fly this thing?" Spyke nodded silently in response and quickly climbed into the control seat, Cloudy climbing the stairs and kneeling with the Seedrian.

Spyke thrust both levers forward, rocketing the hull with it. "No worries yet! There's no point in them firing more Dissipators if they don't plan on boarding." His steeled expression was suddenly melted as Clames answered from a window.

"Yajus?" She stared directly out the glass at the gargantuan ship flanking them. Her voice was filled with a chilling panic.

"What is it?"

"Yajus, we need to go! NOW!"

"What's wrong!"

"The flank cannons..." She pointed out the window, not that she would be able to specify much. Along the Bolt were multiple square tiles, each covered with a large cloth that attached to a hinge. The hinges were slowly lifting up, unveiling the tiles, a large gun barrel protruding from each one. "Yajus! I think those are the Nanomanipulators!"

"**DAMN!**" He suddenly slammed the throttles even harder, pushing them farther through their crevices in the panel than they were normally meant to go. His cocky attitude had suddenly swapped to one of fear, sweat beginning to pour down his face.

Sonic was beginning to stumble to his feet, slowly shaking his head. "Nano... nanomanipu... nanonanonanonano... What?"

He kept his gaze on the front window at a particular pocket of space, which he was apparently aiming toward. "There isn't a thing around that can survive one of those! It will corrode this ship faster than you'd believe! All we can do now is run! Cloudy, are the Lane Destabilizers ready?"

Cloudy was inspecting Tails' pulse before, much to Cosmo's dismay, he turned his attention. "I time released them, no thanks to a certain two individuals tumbling my pods around." He shot a quick glare at the 'two individuals'. "They're primed, they just await my command."

Cosmo put a trembling hand on the feline's shoulder. "Cloudy, please hurry!"

He blinked twice, having momentarily forgot Tails' situation. "What...oh, right!" He hopped to his feet and began rummaging through the equipment on a nearby desk. "His pulse is slow, which means his heart has slowed. It'll stop any moment, and at that point we should be able to resuscitate him with a strong jolt...but I don't have any defibrillators. Is there anything around here..." His gaze fell under the desk at a small box with many colored wires hanging from the top. On the box was a small dial labeled with numbers from one to one hundred, the higher numbers painted a deeper and deeper red. "Please tell me this is some strange way of his to measure voltage," he whispered as he dragged the box out and onto the table. Feeling the need to take the risk himself, he placed two fingers on one of the bare wires and turned the dial to ten with his free hand, immediately pulling both arms back as a series of sparks jumped from the wires. He stared down at his fingers, the tips now charred black. "Alright, I think this will work!"

Cosmo stared with worry at the box as Cloudy dragged it over to the downed fox, her eyes following the path of the wires as the feline placed them on his chest. "Wait, you said you were going to let his heart _stop _first?"

He nodded quickly, placing a hand on the dial. "Correct, then we use this."

"You're going to save him by letting him DIE?"

"He won't actually be _dead_, though, will he?" Sonic stumbled up the steps to the two with Knuckles' help, crouching down with them. "If you can get his heart working quickly?"

"Exactly." He placed his head sideways on Tails' chest, cupping an ear over the location of his heart. After this, he took his hand and placed two finger on his wrist. "Alright, no beat and no pulse! You guys get back!"

"Come on." Sonic pulled Cosmo to her feet and the three took a few steps back. Cloudy placed his hand back on the dial, rhythmically tapping a finger on it. Despite his calm demeanor, his heart was racing at full speed inside.

"Alright, Tails. Don't let us down. Wake up!" He cranked the dial up to thirty and sparks flew from the tips of the wires, effectively charring the fur on the kitsune's chest. He growled loudly as Tails made no response and cranked the dial up to fifty. The sparks, much larger now, continued to dance, and now Tails' frame shook violently in response, however ceasing at the end.

"Tails..." Cosmo stared miserably at the motionless fox, her arms drooping to her side. Sonic placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her."

"Come on, kid! You can't just let it all go like this..." Cloudy pulled what seemed to be a small rubber plate from one of his various pockets and pressed it down on the kitsune's chest, pressing the wires into him. With his free hand he cranked the dial to eighty. A few sparks flew from under the rubber device, but the compressed wires transferred a greater shock into him. His body shook one last time, ending with his stilled movement. Cloudy sat, staring at the motionless fox. He seemed devoid of emotion. "Considering how he measured the voltage, forty should have been enough. If that didn't work, no higher voltage should have had much more affect..."

"...No..." Cosmo slowly shook her head, stepping away from the other two toward Tails. "You can't... Cloudy! Try again!"

The feline slowly rose to his feet, eyes cast downward. "...There's no point. He's gone."

Spyke yelled across the room, slamming the throttles again. "I think they're loading the Dissipators. They're going to stun us, then shoot." He glanced back at the group, then returned his attention to the controls. "We'll all be gone in a minute..."

Cosmo sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "No...he can't be... Cloudy, please, try again! He can't just die like this! Please!"

"Yajus, I'll ready the Destabilizers." Cloudy slowly turned and began pressing small keys on his TSCA, his back to the sorrowful Seedrian.

She looked up at the back of his head. _He's doing this on purpose. He doesn't want to look at me._ She looked behind her at both Sonic and Knuckles, who were both silently staring at the fox. Sonic seemed to hold no expression, but Knuckles' fists were clenched tightly and he was violently shaking. "Sonic, please!" Cosmo covered her face with both hands, slightly smothering her words. "Tell him! We're not done! We can still help him! Can't we?"

Sonic stalled for a long moment before looking up at the feline. "...Cloudy, could you try again?"

"There's no point, and if I don't ready the Destabilizers we'll never make it out of here alive."

Cosmo threw her arms down and shook her head angrily. "No! You can't just walk away from this! If you won't help him...I will!" With sudden inspiration Cosmo crawled over to the wired box and put a hand on the dial, the other on the rubber pad.

Cosmo's sudden action pulled Cloudy away from his device, his eyes widening as he glanced at her hand on the dial. "Cosmo, get away from that-"

He was cut off as she spun the dial to one hundred and immediately threw both hands on the pad, pushing with all her weight. Tails' body began a violent spasm, mainly around the chest, as sparks occasionally jumped from the pad. The sparks were gradually increasing in size and began forming around the box as well as the wires. The smell of singed fur began to weigh heavily in the air and, for several moments, the spasm continued with no evident results. Then, apparently having run the machine dry, the charge seemed to calm and quietly buzz into a painful silence. Cosmo pulled her weight off the pad and sat back. An unrelenting sting remained in her eyes, the tears unable to stop. "...Tails..."

"Cosmo, I'm sorry." Cloudy placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know it must hurt. At least any pain he may have felt is over..."

The four remained, staring at the machine that had now failed to do its part. It sat with a dull silence, yielding no more charge. Then, with no warning(but expected by the others) Cosmo screamed out and swung a fist at it, glancing it slightly to the side. A small whir emitted from inside, but it soon faded. "...Why did Dareth have to pick on _him?_" Cosmo asked, not expecting an answer. After a brief pause she swung at the machine again, knocking it over. She continued, beating her fist again and again into its metal frame, stoic to the pain in her hand. "He...never...hurt..._anybody!_" Each word was accompanied with a smack of her hand. She ended the sentence with a loud scream as she gave the machine one last blow, the sound of something snapping in her wrist not seeming to bother her.

She jumped as the machine suddenly sparked once again, a loud whirring emitting from it. The box erupted in a cloud of sparks, which quickly raced down the wires and under the pad. The kitsune lurched as smoke emerged from it, ending with one last jump from his chest. His back hit the floor and, louder than any sound the machine had made, Tails...coughed. A single cough at first, but quickly erupted into a fit, hacking up small amounts of blood.

The three non-GMFs stared in shock at their now-conscious friend, Cloudy, on the other hand, inspecting the machine in confusion. "All it took was a quick beating?" The feline lifted the thing up with one hand, viewing it at all angles. "A few light smacks and _then _you give us the charge we need? That really figures."

"Tails!" Cosmo threw herself at the kitsune, wrapping both arms around his head and squeezing tightly. The sound of his muffled wheezing reminded her of his condition and she quickly sat back upright.

Sonic seemed the most calm, breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Knuckles, on the other hand, was wide eyed and looked obviously frustrated. The echidna reached down and pulled the fox up by the scruff of his neck. "WHAT THE **HELL **WAS THAT, TAILS?" Tails had now stopped coughing and simply stared, unblinking. "YOU NEARLY GAVE **ME **A HEART ATTACK! DON'T **EVER **DO THAT AGAIN!"

"Calm down, Knuckles!" Sonic grabbed him by the shoulders, Knuckles, in turn, dropping his unlucky victim. "Give him a break!"

"Oh, I'm gonna' break something!"

The argument was cut short as the interior of the ship flashed a deep red, all eyes turning toward the piloting Yajus. "I knew it!" Spyke attempted to ram the throttles even farther. "They're firing the Dissipators again!"

"I'm afraid it's even worse than that," Cloudy added, returning his attention to the TSCA. "I'm detecting an object, smaller than before, boarding us at this very moment..."

Spyke suddenly ceased all movement of the throttles, slowly turning to the feline. "Smaller than before...Jaynu, does that TSCA measure ionic fields?"

He nodded grimly. "Yes, it does."

"...And?"

"It is skyrocketing."

"Iono," Zhagohst and Clames simultaneously answered.

Cloudy glanced back down at the device. "It's boarded. Tails, where's the highest concentration of heat or electrical energy on this ship?"

Tails, still panting from the trauma, managed to squeeze out a few words. "In...the engine room. The main power source is there, too."

"Ionos are always attracted to heat and electricity," Spyke noted, stepping out of the control seat. "Cloudy, I assume you can take the controls from here?" The feline nodded in response, replacing him in the seat. "Knuckles, Sonic, you two still have some fight left in you?"

Knuckles silently beat both fists together while Sonic scratched the back of his head. "I never lost mine, you know. If that Dareth guy had actually put up a fair fight I would have had him!"

"I'll take that as a yes. You two," he turned to the mongoose, "and you, Zhagohst. Come with me. Clames, can I trust you to stay behind and look after Cosmo and Tails? I don't want another incident like last time." The two nodded, accepting their respective jobs. The Yajus took a quick sprint to the door, stopping to wave the hedgehog and echidna along. "Come on, we've got a big fight ahead of us!"

* * *

Spyke, Knuckles, Sonic, and Zhagohst kept a brisk run down the corridor, Sonic forcing himself to slow down to the others' speed. "So what exactly is an Iono?"

Spyke growled as they took a turn around a corner. "I'm not really sure. Some sort of life form that Wildson created. We managed to get our hands on some mission directives a while back. Apparently, an Iono is a mix of biological tissue, a computer mainframe, and electrical energy."

Knuckles stopped for a brief moment before catching up. "Hold on, what?"

"It's living and it isn't. Good enough?"

The group eventually stopped at the torn entrance to the engine room, the pieces of the door scattered across the floor. Much to the group's surprise(and slightly to Spyke's relief), Jeckres stood in the center of the room with his paddle at full potential. The spikes vibrated in their slot, their screech echoing through the room.

"Jeckres, I was beginning to wonder!" Spyke, noticing the battle position the Kemao had taken, held both fists in front of him. "Have you been here this whole time?"

"Yajus, you may want to stay back." Jeckres glanced over at the two non-GMFs before returning his attention to the complicated machinery against the far wall. "There's an Iono rolling around here somewhere..."

"That's what we're here for... Ah!" The Yajus took a step back as what seemed to be a tiny diamond tumbled out from behind a hunk of machinery. It stopped in clear sight of the group before, almost timidly, it rolled behind another piece of equipment. "I think we've found our target..."

"That little thing?" Sonic took an inquisitive step forward, but was stopped by Spyke's outstretched arm.

"Don't get any closer. It's small now, but that shouldn't take long. Jeckres, your aim still as good as I remember?"

With one last flip of a switch, the tip of Jeckres' paddle unfolded outward as if it were simple clockwork. A gun barrel, previously hidden within the steel of the weapon, now protruded the exterior. "Not as sharp as Clames, but I think I'll manage."

The machine the small gem hid behind suddenly crackled with bright sparks and slowly quieted its continuous drone. Moments later the Iono tumbled from behind it, almost scurrying across the floor. With a quick movement of his arm, Jeckres swung the paddle, a large reddish mass crashing against the floor where it had been a moment before, leaving a small crater and flames in the impact zone. Apparently having missed, another machine along the wall ceased its action, quickly followed by more and more as the Iono sucked each one dry. The room's light began to dim, likely absorbed by the same jewel.

"Get ready, boys," Spyke warned, readying himself once again in his combat position. Knuckles, Sonic, and Zhagohst readied themselves beside him. "Five against one. I think we'll be able to handle this one..."

The Iono reappeared, now hovering above the machines surrounding it. It began spinning slowly, bolts of lightning crackling from its core and stretching to ever nearby surface. The light show continued for several moments before the gem suddenly froze in place. Tiny particles of multiple colors, similar to static on a screen, began to swirl around it, slowly forming a full frame. The swarming particles took the shape of a body with four arms encircling around the torso, each ending with a hand with large, flattened fingers. Where legs would normally be on such a model grew a collection of large tentacles, the cluster and quantity resembling a skirt around its waist. In the direct middle of the whip-like appendages pointed a single spike toward the ground, giving the entire entity the appearance of a spinning top.

The four arms clenched into fists, their lengths capable of stretching halfway across the room. "Beginning Objective A," a computerized voice emitted from the tiny crystal floating somewhere within its body. "Removal of immediate obstacles. Beginning Objective A, removal of immediate obstacles. Beginning Objective A, removal of immediate obstacles. Beginning Objective A..."


	9. Chapter 9

The Blue Typhoon careened sharply to the side, barely avoiding a red bolt that passed by the hull. The interior of the bridge glowed a bright red for a brief moment, quickly fading away. Cloudy handled the controls with surprising dexterity for one new with them while Clames slowly found herself pulling away from the window, the distance between them and the Bolt slowly increasing.

"Alright, Cloudy," Clames nodded as she finally tore her gaze from the gargantuan ship. "Keep it up. A little more and we'll reach the Star Lane."

A sudden confidence had overcome the feline as he gazed out the side window, suddenly pulling back on the throttles as he noticed one of the Bolt's cannons glowed a hot red. As he predicted, another Dissipator bolt flew past the front of the Typhoon, and he finished with another push on the throttles, jetting the ship forward. Tails still sat on the floor at the top of the steps, examining the small box that had resuscitated him minutes ago. "So it was this?" He looped the wires around a finger, slightly tugging on them. "This was only to test the voltage of compatible machines!"

Cloudy momentarily glanced back at the kitsune before returning his attention to the task at hand. "Well, that little tester just got your heart beating again! I'd give that thing a good buff later as a reward."

"Why? It's practically worthless. Well, besides getting a heart working again, obviously. I doubt it'll ever do that again."

"No machine is worthless. Even if it seems that way, it may have another use than one would believe... It was that way with my Rally!"

Across the room, in her own little world, Cosmo stood, now entertaining her realization of what she had accomplished. _I saved him...He's alive and it's because of me. Cloudy gave up, but I didn't...And I saved him. _The warm feeling she felt suddenly left as a more assertive thought entered. _But if it weren't for you standing down, letting him step between you and Dareth...this wouldn't even have happened... No, don't feel good or bad about this! I made a mistake and I fixed it. One step back, one forward. Minus one, plus one._

"You know, you're taking this with a surprising lack of emotion," the feline continued, referring to the fox. "I gave up on you. I basically pronounced you dead. It was Cosmo that didn't give up."

Tails quickly swapped his attention to the now-flushed Seedrian. "Really? You...it was you?"

Cosmo looked down at the floor, not wanting to look him in the eye. Not necessarily for guilt, but rather to avoid group attention. "I...I just didn't want to lose anyone else... I'm not sure what came over me. I just...couldn't accept that. Especially when you didn't do anything wrong!"

Clames, now having completely pulled herself from the window, lightly stepped over by the Seedrian, an annoyingly smug smile across her face. "I'm not surprised. After all, it hurts to lose someone you...care so much about. That can lead you to some rather extraordinary feats." Cosmo glanced up at the Kemao, a look of irritated disbelief on her face. Clames reciprocated with a look of all-too-sweet glee. "Not that I'm implying anything..."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with keeping us alive?" Tails stoically suggested from the stairs.

"Oh, I trust Cloudy. We're well out of range of most shots, except for occasional Dissipators. Good thing they haven't found the Hypersphere Drivers or else we'd already be down. I think I can spare a moment to congratulate you, Tails! It's not every day someone comes back to life! You brought Cosmo back and now she's brought you back! It can't just be a coincidence."

Both Cosmo and Tails slowly let their gazes drift from the woman to each other, both immediately looking away with flushed faces after noticing that the view was mutual.

* * *

"Sonic, Knuckles, one small warning..." Spyke whispered, staring at the colorful body that was their foe. He, Sonic, Knuckles, Zhagohst, and Jeckres formed a loose wall, each in their respective combat positions. The Iono's body had just finished materializing, a head with pectoral fins on either side and a spike on the very top, with an empty, cleared face, now emerging from its shoulders. "Heat is the transfer of energy. An Iono will absorb energy as long as it's not overwhelming. If you must make physical contact with your skin, make it _very _brief."

The Iono continued its looped speech. "Beginning Objective A, removal of immediate obstacles. Beginning Objective A, removal of immediate obstacles." From the middle of its chest shot out a thin, red beam into the ceiling. It stretched out into a fan shape and slowly fell to the floor and rose back to the ceiling, retreating back into the Iono after it finished its task. "Life forms detected. Quantity: Five. Specimen One: Unknown race. Origin unrecorded. Identification: Unknown. According to databank, is referred to as 'Spyke.' Strengths: Physical strength and endurance and sharpened armor plates. Weaknesses: Slow movement and selfish capabilities of sacrificing comrades to achieve own ends.

"Specimen Two: Anthropomorphic Hedgehog. Origin: Mobius. Identification: Sonic. Strengths: Movement speed. Weaknesses: Quick to respond to emotions of anger and fear, basing decisions off of premature instinct.

"Specimen Three: Anthropomorphic Echidna. Origin: Mobius. Identification: Knuckles. Strengths: Physical strength and endurance. Weaknesses: Premature mental capacities and rash decision making. Gullible. Known to respond to threats and minor situations.

"Specimen Four: Anthropomorphic Mongoose. Origin: Likely descent of one of many planets in the Delphinius System. Identification: Zhagohst. Strengths: Keen eyesight and movement speed. Retractible claws. Detection Lens for improved accuracy and information on targets. Weaknesses: Known to submit in hostage situations, primarily involving children.

"Specimen Five: Kemao. Origin: Kemao. Identification: Jeckres of the Occuli House. Strengths: Weapon is capable of long-range and close-quarters combat. Capable of flight. Weaknesses: Unrecorded."

Spyke took a step ahead of the others, looking the Iono in its face-area. "Iono! Inform me of your purpose!"

The machine/life form paused for a moment, processing the question. "My current purpose is to assist in the destruction of the ship known as the Blue Typhoon under the circumstance that it may escape the master's pursuit and terminate all life forms boarding the previously mentioned vessel. Will you comply?"

"Burn in hell!" Jeckres yelled, swinging his weapon at the Iono, a mass of energy flung from his weapon. The strange being raised a few of its front tentacles upwards, blocking the shot and essentially absorbing it into its own body.

"Reverting to Objective A, removal of immediate obstacles." Finishing its directive yet again, the Iono lunged forward with impressive speed for its size, smashing two of its arms into the floor ahead of it. The group scattered away from the collision, narrowly escaping injury or death.

Sonic was the first to recover, hopping onto one of its oversized hands and making a quick sprint up its arm. He quickly reached the head without incident, curling into his spinball at the last moment. Surprisingly, he found himself suddenly on the floor once again, having run straight through its skull. He unrolled, looking back at the Iono as some particles buzzed around its head, quickly realigning in their original positions. "I...what?" Surprised, he didn't notice as one of the lower tentacles reached in a wide circle behind him, the end losing particles to make a sharpened tip. The tentacle gave one large slam against the ground and rushed forward, the sound alerting the hedgehog. Sonic spun in time to see the tip mere feet from his frame, suddenly stretching out as if in pain and falling flat on the ground.

The end of the whip-like limb had been severed from the rest of the creature, Jeckres' weapon having cut clean through. He pulled the paddle back up in a combat stance and unfolded his wings. "Be quicker next time, blue boy! I can't watch your back all the time!" And, as if to simply put an end to the obnoxious attitude, another tentacle swung at him, knocking him to the side as a swung log would a small insect. Causing further bother was the severed end of the limb which had now dematerialized into further particles, reattaching themselves to the original tentacle.

Knuckles quickly found himself in a predicament as a fist wrapped around him, squeezing with enough pressure to crush steel. Noticing the potential damage this could cause, he pushed against the inside with both fists, growling to help relieve the pain. Feeling the grip loosen, he gave one last push, shoving both fists through the "skin." The entire hand disappeared in a shower of particles and(dropping the echidna) rematerialized, once again connected to the arm.

"Zhagohst!" the Yajus called, keeping his fists in a primed punch position. "Same as always?"

The mongoose unfolded his lens from his headband, dropping it around his eye, and he focused his gaze on the Iono. Through the lens he was fed multiple readouts including thermal scans, bodily strengths and weaknesses, and, in this particular case, a red blip that was quickly swimming around the inside of the creature/machine. "Same as always. Get the CPU!"

"The what?" Sonic bent at the knees, ready to spin again.

"That small crystal is still inside the Iono! I can see it..." Zhagohst ran over to a wall and leapt up to about half its height, digging his claws into the metal. "Keep it distracted and I may be able to fish it out!"

Jeckres cleaved his paddle through the tentacle that had previously batted him away(not caring if it regenerated or not) and flew up to the wall opposite the mongoose. "Better plan, weasel! Let's make it a simple process of elimination!" Finishing his half-pointless statement, Jeckres dove downward and plunged directly into the waist of the Iono, swinging his weapon in a furious flurry that seemed to resemble a small twister.

"Excellent!" Zhagohst peered through his lens. The red blip(obviously representing the crystal) continued its directionless swimming, however keeping closer and closer to the top of the body as the ferocious Kemao slowly rose higher and higher, the destroyed body parts regenerating beneath him. "A bit higher! Force it into the head!" The Iono had obviously grown aware of the figure tearing up its body from the inside, reaching one arm into its chest(where Jeckres had now risen to) and pulled out the Kemao, swiftly tossing him across the room. "Close enough!" Zhagohst leapt off the wall and straight at the head, one arm reared behind him with the claws at full length. Just as he came near and threw the punch, an arm reached up and plucked him from the air, leisurely flinging him to the ground.

"Dammit!" Spyke grimaced as he watched the mongoose face-plant into the floor. His attention returned to the Iono as it raised all four arms above him, the fingers of each hand spread out. He raised his own arms in a defensive stance and planted his feet into the floor. Just as the arms fell, Spyke suddenly reached an arm down into his belt and squeezed a small cube. The effect was too familiar to a certain two witnesses as the fists smashed into the steel floor, an unusual amount of smoke blasting from the point of impact.

* * *

As before, Cloudy sat at the controls, expertly maneuvering the ship past occasional Dissipator shots. Tails and Cosmo were both seated in the chairs next to him(Clames had finally left them alone) and Clames stood at the window, once again watching the Bolt fire futile shots. "Just a little bit more," Cloudy reassured everyone, a smug smile across his face, "and we're home free! The Bolt will never catch up to us once we've entered the Sirverei Star Lane."

As if some unknown force felt the need to contradict him, Tails' TSCA began beeping. He hastily tapped the screen, which turned a pale white, as if viewing smoke. The Yajus' voice transmitted through it. "Tails? You there, kid?"

Cosmo and Clames quickly huddled together behind the kitsune as to see the screen. Tails glanced back at them, then to the accessory. "I'm here! What's wrong?"

His voice seemed strangely confident, but there was a hint of worry. "The fight's not going as well as anticipated. I doubt we'll need them, but did you install any escape pods on this ship?"

"...I put in a few. You don't think we're going to need them, do you?"

The screen became a little clearer and Spyke's figure was silhouetted against the smoke. "I don't think so, but I think it would be safe, as a precaution, to have you and Cosmo load up into a couple. If it comes down to it the sooner we leave, the better."

Tails nodded hesitantly. "Alright. What about the rest of you?"

"If it comes down to it, we'll follow as soon as we can. But, like I said, I don't think it'll come to that."

The transmission ended, leaving them staring into their reflections in the accessory. Clames was the first to respond. "Alright, then! You two get moving! No need to hang around here." She pulled Tails out of his seat by his arm and turn him and Cosmo around to face the hall.

"We'll be back soon, when Spyke gives the okay!" Tails looked over his shoulder at the temporary pilot, who responded with a thumbs-up. "This should just take a moment!" He and Cosmo both began a brisk pace out the door.

Tails, however, stopped for a brief moment as Clames gave one last remark: "Stay in _separate _pods, alright?"

He stared for a moment and, unable to properly respond to her insinuation, turned and followed the Seedrian.

* * *

"Just in case," Spyke said to himself as he turned off his TSCA. He was slowly walking around the giant ionic beast, the smoke released from his bomb obscuring its sensors. Both Sonic and Knuckles remained at a distance from the smoke cloud, but had heard every word. Zhagohst and Jeckres, however, were using the cover to ready themselves for the same strategy as before at opposite ends of the room. The smoke was beginning to clear to the point of average visibility, working in the favor of both sides. "Sonic, Knuckles! Listen to me carefully!" He hopped to the side as the Iono(its sensors no longer obscured) swung an arm down at him, smashing only the floor. "Jeckres and Zhagohst can extract the CPU from it, but they need cover! If we can keep its arms busy then they can take care of their part! Surround it!"

Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a glance and a determined nod, then rushed into battle. Sonic stopped to the right side of the creature/machine, spun into a ball, and rocketed at its frame, smashing against it and rebounding back to the floor. The impact caught the Iono's attention, sending its front and back right arms down to greet him. Now with a strategy in mind, the hedgehog found the arms to be slow and uncoordinated, simply smashing at the ground wherever it managed to notice a glimpse of him. Within seconds of jumps, flips, and occasionally landing on a hand, he had managed to confuse the Iono into swinging an arm downward as the other was grounded. As an obvious result, the Iono crushed one hand with the other, the matter disintegrating into airborne particles. _Now for the other one,_ he thought, racing up the arm whose fist was now stuck in the floor. He now ran up to its shoulder, stopping and stomping his foot repeatedly into it. The Iono, as annoyed as an artificial lifeform/machine could get, immediately swept its back left arm around its back and at the hedgehog, who nimbly leapt off as the fist collided with the shoulder, the impact severing its second right arm. Likewise, the decapitated limb split into a collection of tiny particles.

The back left arm, now returning to its original direction from the mistake, targeted Knuckles, clenching into a fist and rocketing downwards at him. The echidna, rather than avoiding as Sonic did, raised both arms in front of him and blocked, catching the fist in front of him. He slid back a few feet from the impact but quickly regained control, slowly pushing the fist away. With a quick twist of his arms and a step to the side, Knuckles pulled the arm into the floor, hitting nothing but. "You like to box, do ya'?" With the needless taunt he raised an arm into the air and shoved it straight through the pinned hand, leaving a sizable wound. He didn't quit immediately, smashing his fist again and again into the helpless limb, filling it with holes. Likewise, the arm disappeared in a collection of tiny particles.

Spyke stood, staring at the remaining limb. "One left!" The arm fired directly at him and, without wasting time for grace, raised all the spikes on his body into sharp points, leaping directly at the hand with a fist forward. The impact was only felt on the Iono's end as the Yajus' body plowed directly through its knuckles and into its arm, burrowing deeper and deeper and splitting the limb down the middle until he had arrived at its shoulder. With a quick spin in the arm he swung his arms through the circumference of the limb, effectively severing it. As with the three arms before it, it disappeared in a shower of particles. "Zhagohst, Jeckres! You're open!"

Jeckres repeated his earlier action of ramming into the body of the Iono, spinning like a tornado to drive the CPU upwards. All regeneration energy being spent on repairing the wounds as the Kemao made them, the Iono's torso remained unarmed(no pun intended).

Zhagohst stared at the creature/machine through his lens, the red blip representing the CPU moving gradually upward as Jeckres slowly cut off its free space. He had worked his way up to the chest and the blip had now moved into the Iono's head. "No escape this time!" The mongoose leapt off the wall and through the air, a clawed fist ready to strike. At the last moment, Jeckres ceased his spin and allowed himself to fall through the wounds in the body. The CPU, however, was not as swift, and experienced the full impact of Zhagohst's claws through its mainframe.

* * *

"Is this it?" Cosmo asked as she stepped into a short hall. On either end were a total of eight fourteen doors.

"Yes, these lead to the pods." Tails tapped the door to the nearest one, it automatically sliding open. "I based them off the one you fell to Mobius in so that you would be a little familiar with them."

"Okay, then." She took a step into the room but emerged when she noticed that he was not heading into one himself. "...Where are you going?"

He took a step out of the pod room and into the main hall. "Spyke may have said that this is just a precaution, but I have a bad feeling about this... You stay here. I'll go see if I can help!"

Cosmo opened her mouth to object, but closed it once again as he disappeared down the hall. The door silently slid shut behind her as she quietly entered the pod.

* * *

The ionic body completely disintegrated into thousands of tiny particles as the CPU crystal was knocked from its head, the particles suddenly flying back into the various machines that the Iono had pilfered the energy from. The crystal, already cracked, flew at high speed into a wall and fell to the ground with a light _clink._

Zhagohst fell out of his jump next to the Iono and immediately went to town, smashing his fist again and again into the machine. It glowed and dimmed multiple times, its computerized voice emitting once again. "This is a message from Master Wildson: Resistance is futile. The worlds will submit to Ahea. The Salvator will be brought to Master Wildson. Resign yourselves to the fate set to you by Ahea. This is a message from Master Wildson: Resistance is futile. The worlds will submit..." With one last roar, Zhagohst gave the Iono a final bash with his clawed fist, efficiently smashing it to pieces and silencing it for good.

"Well, I guess that's that, then, isn't it?" Sonic folded his arms, studying the shards of the Iono.

"For now, yes." Spyke nodded with confidence. "That was a Tank Iono. Dareth only deploys them on their own. Notice how big it was? Tanks are the largest kind."

Knuckles growled from across the room. "How many of these things does he have?"

"An army," Zhagohst answered as he stood back up to full height. "And he's constantly manufacturing more and more. We're probably okay for now, though-"

The entire group spun around toward the entrance as they heard footsteps echo down the hall, falling at ease as they saw the kitsune sprinting toward them. Spyke stepped ahead of the group as Tails entered the room, panting heavily. "Ah, I was just about to contact you! We're done here. Iono's down."

"Oh, that's good," he managed to breathe between gasps. "So..are we...safe?"

"We should be... Where's Cosmo?" His expression suddenly turned serious. "You didn't leave her alone, did you?"

"She's in a pod." Tails had now caught his breath, standing straight up. "I left to see how you guys were holding up."

"Good to hear," he answered, tapping a few keys on his TSCA. The screen flickered on to Cosmo's face, bright and expectant. "Heat's off, kiddo! You can come out now."

"That's good!" Suddenly, before the conversation could continue, all lights in the interior turned blue, and Cloudy's voice crackling over the intercom.

* * *

Cosmo looked up from her TSCA as the pod's room suddenly began to glow a deep blue. Cloudy's voice crackled throughout the room. "We are now entering the Serverei Star Lane and the Lane Destabilizers have been launched. Please keep all hands, feet, and other appendages inside the vehicle at all times. Failure to comply with this rule may result in leaving the appendages in question behind and we will _not _be returning to retrieve them. Such a mishap has occurred in the past in which a Kemao officer had a limb half jettisoned into space when we entered the Highbeam Star Lane. We could have easily reattached it if we could return, but it is difficult to turn 180 degrees in a Star Lane."

Cosmo stepped to the door, ready to open it, but ceased as the Jaynu's voice continued. "Sealing all non-main doors to reinforce hull integrity. Please remove yourself from any open doorway. Failure to comply with this warning may result in having your person split into two separate fragments from a fast-moving metal door. Such a mishap has occurred in the past where..."

"Cloudy!" Cosmo yelled as she pushed on the door, unable to open it. "Cloudy, wait! I'm still in the pod!"

"Cosmo, are you alright?" Spyke's voice buzzed over the accessory.

She scrambled to turn the device to her face. "Cloudy's locked the door! I can't get out!"

"Calm down, kid. I'll let him know. If it comes down to it, you may have to stay in there when we jump into the Lane, but he'll let you out once we're in."

Cloudy's overly calm voice continued. "If you look to your left and your right, you will notice that we are in a _spaceship _and, as such, there are no exists available at this time. In the highly unlikely event of us coming into a head-on collision with another ship traveling through the Lane, death is certain. Please strap yourselves in as we enter the Lane. You will feel slight turbulence as we enter. Failure to strap in in time may lead to your person being whiplashed across the room and into furniture, likely causing injury. Please do not cross your eyes as we enter, as this may lead to a permanent state of crosseyeness. Please do not consume any beverages as we enter, as you will likely drown. Please do not consume any food as we enter, as you will likely choke. If you do wish to consume food during entry, please be sure there is someone nearby to perform resuscitation on you. Any comments on how I sound like an air hostess will be ignored, as will one plea for me to save your life at any point in the future. If you insist on reminding me of this, you will be given the cold shoulder treatment for a length of time of which I will determine. However, if you are our Yajus, I will give you the cold shoulder treatment, regardless."

Spyke simply nodded on the other end. "He's really enjoying this. Let me go burst his bubble. I'll call you back up in a moment, alright?"

"Okay..." she answered meekly.

The transmission was cut off, leaving the Seedrian alone in the room. _Please, just let me open this door..._ The universe practically giving her a resounding _**NO**_, the entire craft shook with ferocious violence, whipping her across the room and into the pod's control panel. The impact was heavy, as if something metal had slammed the back of her head. As she slowly sat back up, rubbing her head, an electronic voice echoed through the room. "**Command accepted. Jettisoning pod A**."

"'Jettisoning?'" Cosmo hopped to her feet, looking across the panel. It was, indeed, similar to the one she left her home in. But then again, she didn't exactly understand that one, either. "Stop! Cancel! Don't!" She placed a hand on the wall as she felt the craft lurch forward. _It's moving...and we're in a 'Star Lane...' What does that mean?_

Her TSCA flickered back to life with Spyke's now furious face. "WHAT HAPPENED!"

"I don't know! The pod shook and now it's being jettisoned! What do I do!"

The Yajus spent a moment to ponder the situation. "We're in the Serverei Star Lane right now, so you should be traveling alongside us until we emerge. We'll have control once we emerge. Unfortunately, you will not. Alright, Tails knows more about those pods than I do, so I'll swap it over to him."

The TSCA turned off, then flickered on with Tails in the picture. "Cosmo, are you alright?"

The sight of him filled the Seedrian with a calming feeling. "Y-yes, I'm fine. But I don't know what to do..."

"Okay, on the panel. Do you see a large, gray lever with twelve numbers beside it?"

She glanced at the panel. A lever matching the description was in the upper-left corner. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, that should activate a magnetic field that will pull you back to the Typhoon. That's about all you need to do."

Another voice, likely Cloudy's, could be heard over the TSCA. "I'm afraid that won't work, Tails. A magnetic field can't be created in a Star Lane. If there already is one in existence once you enter, it will hold. But we can't make one in here."

"Alright," Tails continued, unfazed. "The moment we emerge, pull that lever all the way down! That will pull you back to us!"

"Okay," Cosmo said, stepping over to the panel and placing both hands on the lever. "Whenever you tell me..."

* * *

Itera sprinted into the surgeon's room. He had an unusual instrument in Dareth's chest, blood openly pouring from the wound. Besides gruesome scene, the rest of the room seemed befitting of a surgeon, with valuable equipment and cleaned walls and floors. "Master Wild...Um, Dareth?"

He grimaced from the pain of the instrument. Besides the pain, he still seemed to be fuming over the whole situation. He attempted to put on as calm a face as possible for the young woman. "Yes, Itera?"

"I-I'm sorry. It seems that the Blue Typhoon has escaped into the Serverei Star Lane and the Tank Iono has been neutralized-"

"_**AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!**_" There was a blur of blackness across the entire room, ending with all the surgeon's instruments and equipment embedded in the walls. Surprisingly, both the surgeon and Itera were completely unharmed, but both cowering as far from him as possible. "_**NO! I NEED THAT CHILD! AHEA NEEDS THAT CHILD!**_" He disappeared from the table and reappeared in front of Itera, lightly gripping her by the shoulders. "Itera, sweet, beautiful Itera," he quickly whispered, somehow much calmer than a few seconds ago. "Please tell me that, somewhere on this ship, there is some way to make this ship faster! Anything at all!"

"W-well we do have a Reality Speed Drive..."

"Then put that in!"

"But we can't maneuver with it. Even Spring cannot."

"I don't care. Just put it in! Please!"

"But we can't-"

"Please!"

"But-"

"Please."

Itera looked down at the wolverine's arms. They were shaking violently, far worse than she had ever seen him before. _He's desperate..._ She nodded with a smile, glad to see one come to his face as well. "I'll have it put in. But I can't guarantee it'll work."

"That's fine. As long as everyone tries, I cannot complain."

* * *

"How long does a trip through a Lane last?" Tails glanced up from his TSCA at Cloudy, who had left the controls alone during Lane travel. The group(besides, obviously, Cosmo) had managed to work their way into the bridge.

"Depends on the length and the strength of a Star Lane Drive. Luckily, we have a few Lane Destabilizers on hand. Shoot one of those into a Lane and it stretches the entrances and exits so that they're almost adjacent. It will take only another minute." Further proving his point, a large digital number, consisting of minutes, seconds, and milliseconds appeared on a small screen. "One minute, twelve seconds." He leaned over to Tails' TSCA. "Hey, Cosmo, I'll count down once the number's low enough, alright?"

"Alright," she answered, tightening her grip on the lever. "By the way, what if I don't pull at _just_ the right moment?"

"The Star Lane's energy stream is made to be a highway for matter to transport through. Gravitational forces of the stars on either exit are magnified to drag matter along. The Lane Destabilizers stretched the entrances and exits so that we could be dragged at the same speed and trajectory, but would, overall, be a far shorter trip. Star Lanes often lead to more Lanes, so if we don't drop out at the correct time, the gravitational forces affecting the Lane from other star systems will continue to drag us along into the next Lane. Presumably, we can eject ourselves from that chain at any time, but insufficient timing may lead to an extended travel period."

"Um... I'm sorry, Cloudy, but... I really don't understand..."

"Okay, let me start over. The Star Lane's energy stream is made to be a highway for-"

"If you take too long, you may land a good distance from us," Tails interrupted, knowing Cosmo wouldn't want to sit through the explanation again.

"Oh... But I don't have perfect timing. What if it's just a little bit?"

"Then you'll land a short distance away, but nothing that the magnetic field cannot shorten."

She nodded, still unsure. "Alright...I'm trusting you."

"Twenty seconds, now!" Cloudy glanced back at the counter to confirm his estimate."Nineteen, eighteen..."

_Don't mess this up..._Cosmo closed her eyes and squeezed the lever tightly with both hands, coordinating her breaths with Cloudy's count. _Pull down too late and you'll be lost. Pull down too early and you'll have to pull back up, and then down again. And you'll be lost. Don't mess this up..._

The feline was finishing his count, his tone turning more and more nervous as the number shrank. "Five, four, three, two, one... Pull!"

Cosmo pulled back on the lever. Even though the plan was simple and easy to think through, with the simplest instructions to follow to avoid catastrophe, there is never any way of properly taking every possibility into consideration. This event proved to be one example of such a situation as the pod shook violently as if it , it and the Typhoon punching through the Star Lane's exit. Cosmo's hands slid off the lever and she fell backwards, her head smashing into the floor. She had barely pulled the device. She sat up, rubbing the back of her head with one hand as she wiped away a tear with her other. It took a brief moment before the situation resurfaced to her attention and her eyes widened at the realization of her mistake. "...No...No, no, no!" She hopped to her feet and threw herself at the panel, wrapping both arms around the lever and yanking down on it with all her weight. It slid down without resistance, but was it too late?

"Cosmo?" Tails' voice crackled over the TSCA. "Cosmo, are you alright? Did you pull it!"

"I think I was late..." She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to hear some positive words across the link.

Instead she heard Spyke in the background. As always, he was upset. "That damn klutz! Would it kill her to do _something _right?"

Inside the bridge of the Typhoon, Jeckres watched as a small, cylindrical vessel flew parallel to them, but at much higher speeds, rapidly disappearing from sight. He folded his arms, chuckling. "Well, there she goes..."

Tails glanced out the window, not needing to see the pod to understand the situation. "No, no, no, no, no! How did this happen?"

"I'm afraid the distance is too strong for the magnetic field to have much affect," Cloudy sighed, shaking his head. "We can't catch up if she keeps moving at this speed. Tails, are the pods on a predetermined course?"

Tails slowly nodded, massaging his scalp in an attempt to think better. "Yes, they're supposed to locate the nearest planet with a breathable atmosphere and head there, but... Isn't there some way we can catch up to her now?"

"Not at this speed. Not until she stops. And don't worry, she will. Veni Serverei should be suitable for life. It's pretty peaceful, too. You know, it's kind of sad when I have to explain to you how your own equipment works..."

Tails pulled the TSCA to his face, ignoring Cloudy's lecture and Spyke's pointless swearing. Cosmo was shown through the screen, her cheeks stained with tears. "Tails, what...what am I supposed to do?"

It tore him apart to see her this way, so distressed and upset. "Cosmo... Please, hear me out. We can't catch up to you immediately, but you should land on a planet nearby. If you can hold out down there, we'll come pick you up. I know you're upset, but please..."

The news was far too sudden for the Seedrian, who sank to the floor. "But...I'm finally back with all of you...and now I have to leave...again?"

Spyke shoved his face into the screen of Cosmo's TSCA, a look of dire seriousness marking him. "Listen, Cosmo. Save the sentiment for later. You should be floating out of our signal any moment, so I have some instructions for you. Ready?"

She nodded slowly. "...Okay..."

"First of all is when you land. If you find yourself in society, find some way of registering your name for Missing Contacts. They practice that on Veni Serverei. It should make it easier for us to find you. If you aren't in society, such as in a desert or a jungle, _stay in the pod._ Who knows what could lurk outside. Be careful of who you talk to-not everyone is your friend. Some people may wish to take advantage of you. But most of all, and I mean this, do _not_, under _any _circumstances, let _anyone _know that you are a Seedrian! Alright? As far as they're concerned, you are a Sarpecian! You got that?"

"...Yes, sir..."

Spyke's image began to flicker and his voice became much quieter. Through the static that was beginning to show up on screen, Cosmo could make out a smile on the Yajus. "We'll be there soon!"

The link terminated, leaving the Seedrian alone in the silent pod. She stared silently at the floor for several moments before staggering to her feet and dragging herself to the panel's chair. She plopped down into it, staring at the numerous controls, very few of which seemed familiar. Feeling the silence, the empty space, and the loneliness creeping up on her, she felt the only option was to lean back, close her burning eyes, and attempt to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

SM) Alright, my sincerest apologies for delaying this for so long. Plenty of things got in my way, but I know you aren't here to read excuses. You are here to read a story, and a story I shall once again provide. Hopefully, you'll enjoy.

* * *

Tails silently flicked the TSCA off as Cosmo's face faded, being replaced only with the opaque static. With a sudden rage that could be considered understandable, the kitsune smashed his feeble fist onto the desk beside him. "I can't believe this! We've barely left and we've lost her again!"

"We?" Cloudy remarked, taking a quick glance out the window at the small vessel that seemed to shrink more and more with each passing second. "There's no 'we' in this one. Who's the one who stuck her in that pod to begin with?"

The kitsune spun around to him with a bestial growl. "I only did that because Spyke told me to! That mistake just cost us her!"

"And I only did that," the Yajus responded, "out of safety. We screwed up, stop worrying over who's fault it is." He shook his head and turned his attention directly to the feline. "Jaynu, get this rig over to Veni. The sooner we meet up with that kid, the lesser the chance Wildson beats us to her."

Cloudy silently did as instructed, climbing into the control seat and pushing forward on both levers. Much to his confusion, no movement was felt throughout the craft, and the Typhoon continued to lazily drift along in its original trajectory. "Um, I don't conjecture that's entirely possible as of this moment." He gave the throttles a few more experimental pushes before leaving them in their slots. "Tails, I don't suppose we were hit by any Dissipators during your control of the vehicle, were we?"

The kitsune sighed and wiped his face, remembering the room when it had turned a faint pink. "...One. But the backup supply immediately switched on, so I thought it wasn't too important..."

"Not good," the Yajus growled, folding his arms. "Brunswik Dissipators spread to other machines. They must have reached your engine by now."

"Is there any way to fix it?"

"Dissipator bolts are mainly liquid," Cloudy responded, fishing into one of his many pockets for some apparatus, "so it's actually quite plausible to simply wipe the fluid off the surface of the machine. Any on the exterior of the Typhoon really doesn't matter as of this point any more, but the fluid that has reached your engine had best be removed. Clean the surface, and there is nothing for the penetration surges to originate from. One Dissipator bolt can be cleaned fairly quickly, but large quantities of them could take a lifetime."

"...So we just clean the engine?"

"Pretty much."

* * *

Cosmo abruptly awoke in a cold sweat, greeted by the darkness of the room she had collapsed into. For a brief instant she glanced around in confusion before recalling the previous events that had led up to her isolation. The Seedrian slumped her arms down miserably, staring at the overly complicated control panel dominated by a large window, giving a clear view of the layout ahead. She sighed, feeling a moment of tranquility as she gazed upon the dotted dark blanket onward, momentarily leaving the stress of her situation behind her. Upon the eventual recollection of such events, Cosmo abruptly lay her head against the panel, groaning loudly.

Apparently having hit some sort of switch, a loud, droning, siren-like din resonated from the control panel and she immediately sat to attention, franticly looking across the surface in a worried frenzy. The noise fell silent as suddenly as it had began, and the front window flickered slightly with waves of static coursing across, changing to a completely white screen. _...What exactly is this...? _She nervously squinted at the overly-bright monitor with a slight hint of confusion.

"**Escape Pod A-4," **a mechanical voice emanated from the control panel as the same words formed on-screen. **"Coordinates set and confirmed. Beginning adjustments. Please post inquiries or commands concerning pod itinerary, objectives, and priorities via the provided input hardware."** Demonstrating its statement, a large section of the panel collapsed in on itself, a keyboard replacing it.

_Wait, I can talk to it? _She nervously reached over the keyboard and slowly typed out, "Where are we going?"

After a few seconds of mechanical whirring from the control panel, the words on-screen, read aloud by the voice, responded. **"Approaching unknown planetary body. Long-range scanners indicate suitability for carbon-based organisms."**

_Spyke said the planet was called..._ She continued her awkward typing. "Is the planet named 'Veni Serverei?'"

"**Identification of planetary body is unknown."**

She slumped back in her seat. _Tails must not have known much about this planet before now. It makes sense that his machines wouldn't know it, either. _She slowly pecked out another question with a single finger. "How much longer?"

"**Entry into planetary atmosphere in approximately five hours."**

_Five hours..._ Cosmo glanced around the dark room once again, her eyes still not completely able to adjust. _Five hours to do what? _She looked down at her TSCA with a sigh. _If I could read anything on this, then maybe I might be able to help things out a little... contact someone, or something._ She took another look out as the screen flickered off, revealing the window once again. _Just... think positively. They kept saying how the Bolt would never be able to catch the Typhoon... and the Typhoon is coming to pick me up. There shouldn't be any possibility of Dareth..._

The simple thought of the wolverine's name drove a chill up Cosmo's spine. _Don't even think about him... The Typhoon is coming. Just think about that. Nothing else._

_

* * *

_

"There," Cloudy said as he tossed a sponge that he had seemingly pulled out of one of his various pockets to a particularly irritated echidna, a sharp smile across his face. "Make yourself functional for something other than running your mouth."

Knuckles glared back at the feline as he squeezed the sponge. "And exactly _why _am I the one to do this?"

"We need some elbow grease to get this stuff off of any surface." He shrugged with a chuckle. "You have the muscle. Get after it."

"If it's a matter of muscle, get Spyke to do it! Don't just drag me over to do the janitor work!"

"Would you allow YOUR commanding officer to do the lower ranking work?"

The echidna turned and faced the interior of the room. As Cloudy and Spyke had hypothesized, the machinery had indeed been affected by the Dissipators. Large streams of crimson fluids snaked and wormed around every surface visible, slowly coiling and uncoiling as if alive. The room's lights were unnaturally dim and occasionally flickered off and on, battling to keep the last of their energy. "And you expect me to clean up all of THIS with a sponge?" He turned back to the feline only to notice that he had disappeared. Without any explanation, a bucket of water had also suddenly appeared beside him.

"Be careful not to break anything!" Cloudy's voice echoed from down the hall.

* * *

"Wait, can't we get someone else to do this?" Tails's eyes widened in shock upon observing the state of his engine room, crimson streams sprawled all across the machinery, floor, walls, and even the ceiling, Knuckles perched on a single contrivance while unenthusiastically scrubbing the surface.

"Hey, this is your ship, right?" Cloudy shrugged. "It should be your job to make sure it's at the zenith of its performance, shouldn't it?"

"But even Spyke told me that I'm best at the helm. Can't somebody else do this?"

"Other people _can_," he responded, fishing into one of his many pockets and pulling out another sponge, "but you would be the supreme pick." He dropped it on the floor next to the kitsune's feet. "And be quick about this; the sooner you clean this stuff up, the sooner we can track down Cosmo."

"Wait, what?"

* * *

"That's right- you, too."

Sonic looked over his shoulder at the twice- previously mentioned engine room decorated with the twice- previously mentioned Dissipator streams, the echidna and kitsune working on opposite ends. "All of this? Why me?"

"Well, they aren't working fast enough." the feline answered, a smug smile marking him. "And when it comes to things being accomplished quickly..."

"PLEASE don't try to flatter me into doing your dirty work." Sonic growled in discontent.

"I'm certain the three of you can get this done efficiently. Besides, if you want to argue with someone on this, I'm not the individual to be turning your frustration at." Cloudy reached into a pocket and pulled out yet another sponge.

"Where the hell are you getting all of these from?" Knuckles yelled across the room upon seeing the object.

* * *

"Okay, am I the only one getting the feeling," Sonic spat on the wall beside him before giving it a wipe, "that Spyke wants us all out of the way for some reason?"

"Notice how we're the only three back here?" Tails responded, glancing across the half-red room in annoyance. "Nobody's coming to help out. They don't want us to know something."

"And why are we even bothering with the whole room?" Knuckles glared at a particularly heavy-duty-looking machine in front of him. "Why don't we just clean the engines and leave the rest?"

"No, according to Spyke, the streams will just spread to the other machines if we leave them." The kitsune turned back to the wall and continued his work. "The sooner we clean this stuff up, the sooner we can get moving. I'd rather not be overtaken by Dareth, anyways."

Upon the realization of the the threat posed by this possibility, both Sonic and Knuckles nodded once with renewed urgency and continued scrubbing.

* * *

"Alright, that makes all three of them." Cloudy sighed as he dragged himself back into the cockpit, looking down at his TSCA. The remaining members stepped into a loose circle around him with an air of silence shared by all.

The Yajus nodded at him, his serious expression remaining fixed upon him. " So what is it?"

The feline glanced at each individual in the room, noting that he had everyone's undivided attention. "I figured it would be unsafe to let them hear this, but before we entered the star lane I discovered something a little disturbing..."

Spyke raised an eyebrow. "Which would be?"

"Just before our escape, my TSCA managed to pick up a couple of signals sent from the Bolt. Here." Cloudy tapped the side of his accessory a few times and finished with a tap of the screen.

A woman's voice, somewhat distorted by static, emitted through the device. "...Scout... to Mobius. Subjugate... the...terminate...to bring... control, if necessary..."

"That doesn't sound good," Clames whispered from the side.

"Not in the least," Cloudy responded. "'Scout to Mobius?' 'Subjugate?' '_Terminate?'_ Sounds to me like he's sending something to Mobius. This is exactly why I had those three leave the room. If they overheard this, they would certainly want to go back. And we certainly cannot head to Mobius and Veni simultaneously."

"You said a couple of signals, didn't you?" The Yajus tapped the side of Cloudy's TSCA a couple of times, finishing with a tap on the screen.

"Yes, this is the other one. It came through a lot better."

The same voice, but nowhere near as distorted, emitted: "Contact the Sagittarius! Send Sagittarius to Veni Serverei immediately! Repeat, send Sagittarius to Veni Serverei!"

This message left a look of confusion in each listener, exchanged glances and shrugs all around. The Yajus was the first to actually speak. "Sagittarius? Who is that?"

"I'm uncertain," Cloudy said, stepping away from the group and stepping up to the helm, "and the specific identity is hardly worrisome. What the actual problem is is that Dareth is sending somebody to Veni Serverei. He likely wouldn't even send anyone if he didn't believe they could beat us there."

"You mean this 'Sagittarius' is likely even closer to Veni than we are?"

"That, and Cosmo has absolutely no warning of it." He placed both hands on the throttles and gave them a push, still receiving no response from the craft. "Whatever this Sagittarius is, it could easily offer the kid protection and simply just drag her back to Wildson. And the longer we sit here," he leaned back in the seat, propping his feet up on the control panel, "the greater the chance of that happening."

"But this is an entire planet we're talking about," Zhagohst responded, nervously watching the feline's feet as they hovered dangerously close to some unknown switches. "and one kid for them to find."

"One kid that would certainly have drawn attention to herself." Cloudy closed his eyes, a hint of frustration apparent in his expression. "It's not every day that a pod crash-lands somewhere. Plus, we told her to apply for 'Missing Contacts.' That will make it easy for anybody to track her down. Essentially, Dareth's chances of finding her are as good as ours. Except that he may have a head start."

The room remained silent for several seconds as each member thought over the gravity of the situation. Obviously, Wildson had some form of ace up his sleeve with this "Sagittarius," the possibility of locating Cosmo was equal on both sides, and time was certainly being wasted as the Typhoon dully trudged by, its engines still under the time-consuming cleansing.

The Yajus barely opened his mouth with the intent to break the painful silence before the job was done for him. With absolutely no warning, the entirety of the cockpit was flooded with a blinding flash of light and an absolutely savage jolt threw every person and object not securely fastened straight to the floor. Although the flash itself led to overall obscured vision, the internal lights, themselves, flickered off for several moments before regaining their luminescence.

Seconds later, a doddery blue hedgehog ran into the room, attempting to blink his eyes back into focus. "W-what was that? Did you guys feel that too?"

"No, Sonic," Cloudy remarked, barely opening his eyes, "we all just tripped simultaneously." However, his eyes shot completely open and he gasped in horror as one of his beloved monitors fell off a wall, shattering across the floor.

"What the hell is he thinking?" Spyke lept to his feet, quickly overcoming the vertigo, and ran to the front window. Visible at the angle was a thin streak of white light stretching past the Typhoon and into the depth of space, twinkling as it quickly faded into the opaqueness. "Reality Speed? Is he suicidal?"

The hedgehog stepped up and squinted out the window beside him, just catching that last twinkles of light. "Reality?"

"Reality Speed Drive." Cloudy answered, barely able to pry his eyes away from his demolished tech. "The fastest engine the Bolt has. Temporarily negates all nearby matter to remove any and all drag while canceling the vessel's own mass. Even punches through space."

The Yajus shook his head in disbelief. "What the hell is he thinking, hitting Reality Speed _this close _to another vessel? Damn space hog!"

"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Jeckres muttered from across the room as he pulled himself to his feet. "The size of the Bolt compared to this rig... if he _had _hit us, we would have all been obliterated on the spot."

Spyke turned to Sonic. "How are the other two?"

"Oh, fine. I was just in there. Tails fell over, and Knuckles hit his head on something. I think he's knocked out."

"...At last, some good news."

* * *

Cosmo awoke as her seat began to shake, subtly at first, but slowly increasing in strength, a dull roaring echoing throughout the room. It was only several seconds spent in confusion that the Seedrian realized that it wasn't the seat, but the whole pod's frame, that had begun quaking. After spending a moment glancing around rapidly in panic, she looked down at the keyboard on the control panel. Praying it would respond, she typed out: "What is happening?"

"**Dialogue unidentifiable. Please present all inquiries in standard, professional form."**

_Wh...what?_ She shook her head before making a second attempt. "How much longer until we reach the planet?"

"**Assumed intentional inquiry: 'What is the remaining time span before the arrival of immediate vessel to planetary destination?'"**

The tone the computerized voice spoke in was the only clue Cosmo understood indicating that _she _was the one being questioned. She slowly typed. "Y-E-S."

The panel buzzed and beeped for several seconds before she was given an answer. Although the tone was as basic as usual, the words themselves brought a wide gaze to her eyes. **"Two minutes, fourteen ****seconds, and counting."**

She shot up from her seat as the screen flickered off, revealing the front window in its place. However, the view was completely hidden behind a wall of vicious flames that covered the front glass like a blanket. For a brief instance, Cosmo imagined the entire hull of the pod as being covered in the blazing inferno that the view hinted, and she suddenly felt herself grow cold. This would be the second time that she had fallen on a strange world in one of these, and she had been immediately thrown unconscious the first time around. She had only been lucky as to have been stumbled across by the people who found her. There was no guarantee that she would be so lucky twice.

Cosmo swallowed hard. _And the last pod was built by many knowledgeable people. I trust Tails and his __equipment, but still..._ She sat back in her seat, holding on to either side with as tight a grip as she could muster. _At least if I'm ready for it, it shouldn't be as bad..._

An alarm somewhere inside the pod began to blare, and the electronic voice began to give its warnings: **"Approaching planetary surface. Prepare for landing. Approaching planetary surface. Prepare for landing."**

Cosmo sat with her eyes squeezed shut for a full minute, counting every second from the moment she sat down, convincing herself that it had been twenty seconds between the time given by the computer and her own count. _Forty more seconds..._

Either her count was off or the computer had miscalculated. The entire pod ferociously convulsed upon its collision with the ground, and Cosmo was thrown forward in her seat. Her chest smashed into the control panel, knocking the wind out of her, but she had managed to throw her arms up around her head, cushioning her skull from impact and preventing any cranial injury. Ignoring the ice in her torso, she quickly wrapped both arms around the bulky mainframe as the pod began to tumble. In seconds, the surfaces of the vessel had been thrown about, the walls acting as the floor or ceiling, ceiling replacing floor or wall, time and again.

The toppling quickly came to an abrupt cease, Cosmo still clinging to the panel, which was now attached to, essentially, a side wall. She waited for a full minute before taking a peek at her surroundings, sighed in relief at the sight of the room basically unchanged, and let herself slump to the floor(wall?) of the pod.

Cosmo took a deep breath before typing on the overturned keyboard, attempting to shift her body sideways to come to terms with the keys. "Have we arrived at the planet?"

The computerized voice did not respond, nor did the shifted panel make any sound whatsoever.

_Computer must have been damaged,_ she thought. She glanced out the front window, also overturned in an odd position that made it slightly more difficult to see out the sides, but allowed a greater vertical scope. Any apparent flames that may have lingered on the surface appeared to have been extinguished, and a rather serene view of foliage in a cornucopia of hues and colors peered back in. Various leaves and vegetation of all sizes and tones decorated the view, practically beckoning.

Captivated with the unanticipated grace of the landscape, Cosmo stumbled, nearly allowing herself to fall backwards. _This... it's... it's beautiful..._ Determining that the serene world must be experienced, rather than just viewed, the Seedrian glanced toward the back wall of the vessel at the sideways automatic door, still firmly shut tight. _Please don't be jammed, too,_ she thought as she lightly stepped beside it to what could only be an above switch and hit it. She held her breath in anticipation as the tilted door hummed and whirred mechanically for several seconds, miserably exhaling when the noise fell silent with no result. Cosmo closed her eyes and groaned loudly, but snapped to attention as the door suddenly slid open, the delay seeming almost a tease.

She stepped outside, gaping in amazement at the surrounding landscape. The pod had apparently fallen into a lush, beautiful spring surrounded by thick, lively foliage. Exotic plants of various shapes and colors, some towering high into the air and casting a safeguarding canopy while others humbly resembled simple shrubs, encircled a pool of crisp, clear, unclouded water, dyed a sparkling blue and only about a foot in depth. The water itself was completely transparent, revealing small aquatic animals darting around beneath. The pod itself had appeared to have landed half in, half out of the clear spring.

Her mind suddenly taking itself off the serene grace of the scenery surrounding her, Cosmo quickly recounted the events that had led up to her new situation. _Tails brings me back... Clames heals me... I'm wagered into boarding a ship filled with strangers... I meet... Dareth. And now I'm... here?_ The chain of events made absolutely no sense to her. She had been called back into this world through fear and confusion and had experienced nothing else since arriving. And now, somehow caused by the very same confusion that had proven itself to be dark and menacing, she had been laid down in such a fair and beautiful domain?

_Maybe it's a reprieve... _Cosmo's thoughts were cut short by a pain in her chest. Before, she had only felt cold, as if ice had settled in next to her heart. But now the ice seemed to be fading, slowly being replaced only with a sharp stinging. Hunching over, she clutched both hands to her heart and squeezed her eyes shut, taking deep breaths. The pain had grown a bit, but seemed to be leveling out at an acceptable level. Her mind briefly replayed what she could remember of her recent landing, specifically the preliminary impact and how it had smashed the control panel into the dead center of her chest. _I... I must have bruised something... or broke something. No, not broken, not in my chest. I wouldn't even be able to walk if something was broken. Bruised, then._

Pushing the pain away, Cosmo kicked off her shoes and slowly stepped into the water, closing her eyes as she felt a gradual feeling relief fluxing throughout her entire body. _Water, _she thought with pleasure, _the greatest source of energy for us... _The pain in her chest had managed entirely subdued. _Water... and light._ She tilted her head back and reopened her eyes, gazing at the sky, a faint white color. A large burning sphere, obviously the world's star, illuminated the heavens. _And both are plentiful here._

The Seedrian casually allowed herself to fall backward, making a slight splash, and closed her eyes, quietly focusing on her thoughts. _Dareth... killed Galexina... He murdered my sister. Spyke and his GMF have been after him for so long... and still hasn't caught him? Why would he help the Metarex? Were they aware that he was there? Did they help him? No, the final stage of their plan was to wipe out all animal life, and that would include Wildson. _For a brief instant, the situation flashed through her head of herself pinned to a wall by sharp objects, the wolverine's sickening smile watching over her. She shuddered at the thought. _He... on some level... held some sort of attraction to Galexina. Did she know of this? ...Or maybe that's just something he was saying to mess with me._ _And now he wants something to do with me..._

Although a feeling of ice in her veins forced her to shake, her face felt hot. _No! No, it's not that. Something to do with this "Salvator" title. What does that mean? What's a "Salvator?"_

Cosmo shot her eyes open at the sound of a loud splash past her feet. She forced herself into an upright sitting position and was frozen stiff. Somehow, during the midst of her mental monologue, an animal of some sort had managed to creep within meters of herself. Whatever the creature was, the first noticeable feature was that it was large, at least three times Cosmo's own size. It was generally anthropomorphic, large arms extending from its torso and two smaller legs from its waist. It's head had a lizard-like, almost serpentine look to it, curved to a point with wide, glowing golden eyes and slitted nostrils. Streams of skin fell from around its head like dreadlocks, and the entire beast's hide was a dark violet, arguably black. Exactly how the creature had managed to get so close without drawing attention to itself was baffling, but the Seedrian found herself not worrying about _how_, but _why._

Cosmo stared directly into its glowing eyes, half-captivated in its gaze. She briefly gave a thought to the distance between herself and the pod, somewhere around six steps, give or take a few. Likely a few too many. The beast slightly swayed from side to side, alternating which arm to apply its weight to. Then, with a snort, it stretched out its arms and bent at the knees, a prime position to build potential for a pounce.

Although not an expert on animal instincts and actions, it was clear even to Cosmo that this creature wasn't looking for a hug. Breaking from her petrification, she scrambled to her feet and made a sprint toward the metal protection of the pod. However, she had barely managed a step and a half before she was flattened face-down in the water by an oversized outstretched hand. Cosmo strained her neck and lifted her head out of the water, her hear racing rapidly as the lizard thing moved its head close to hers, curiously sniffing and snorting. _Please, _she thought, squeezing her eyes shut, _I'm not an entrée. I'm not a meal. Don't eat me!_

The beast fell silent and removed its appendage from her back, allowing her to turn her head away from the water. Just as she began to turn over and breathe a sigh of relief, Cosmo held her breath once more as it stood up on its hind legs, flaunting its full height, and reared an outstretched arm back. Already aware of what was coming, the Seedrian squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself as it swung, its flattened hand colliding with her entire upper-body and hurtling her many meters across the ground. The collision felt far heavier than it would have looked, as if a large skillet had been smashed into her. She tumbled to a stop flat on her back, her head spinning and body unresponsive to the instinct to run. Her vision became obscured with blurs and fog until she could not discern one object from the next, and any sound perceived became disgustingly distorted.

However, as the last trace of light vanished from her visual scope, she could faintly hear what appeared to be loudly yelled words, the sound of a blade unsheathing, and a bestial cry of pain.

* * *

There are no words yet invented that can properly describe the event of traveling at Reality Speed. The process itself is all a matter of reflex. Activate the drive, then immediately deactivate it as soon as physically possible. For most untrained people, this action could take years to accomplish. The Reality Speed Drive shot the entire Bolt along at speeds unimaginable and without any sense or care of direction.

Wildson and the doctor accompanying him screamed as loudly as possible as their very substances, down to the atoms, were whiplashed, torn apart, reassembled, morphed, and aligned in an infinite number of possible ways for an indiscernible period of time before whoever was in control of the drive had deactivated it, sending both Dareth and the surgeon tumbling into a wall at a much slower speed than their inertia would normally allow.

The wolverine straightened himself up and glanced around the room at the surgeon's scattered and damaged equipment, panting to catch his breath. "What... how... how long was that?"

Sprawled out on the floor, the doctor brought a modified TSCA to his attention, gasping his answer. "Four hours... sixteen minutes..."

Wildson spent several seconds comprehending exactly how short the trip had been in comparison to how such a trip would _normally _have been before rising to his feet, shaking the sense back into his head. "Well... give that guy a raise."

He turned his attention to the door as it flung open, Itera stumbling through it with a hand over her forehead. "Master Wildson! Are you alright?"

The wolverine groaned loudly, correcting somebody's choice of words not exactly ranking high on his list of priorities. "Itera, what did I tell you about these formalities?"

"Oh, my apologies, sir-" she started, then corrected herself. "Um, sorry, Dareth."

He turned to the still-shaken surgeon and offered him a hand, which was waved away. "You going to be alright?" Wildson stared with concern at the man of science, who seemed to merely be panting away on the floor. The shock of Reality Speed must be worse for some than for others. Itera herself had already proven able to walk.

He shook his head, the action rubbing his forehead across the floor. "No, I'll... I'll be alright." He looked up, suddenly remembering the very reason Wildson was even in the room. "What about you? I haven't exactly gotten you to full health yet..."

"_I'll _be alright." His expression turned gravely serious. "You just stay here and keep doing what you do. I have stuff to see to." Receiving only a grunt and nod as a response, Dareth spun around and marched out the door, Itera following closely behind him.

Without even glancing at the woman, the wolverine began his list. "Exactly how far did we go?"

Itera spent a few seconds looking through her modified TSCA before somberly answering. "We're not certain. All the Bolt's scanners have been jumbled from the Reality Drive. However, if I were to estimate, I'd guess we've jumped about 70 percent of the galaxy. Working our way back may take some time."

"Unless we take the drive to go back!"

She shook her head, attempting not to smile at the daft suggestion. "With all due respect, si- Dareth, we were lucky to have pulled out when we did. Another attempt at that may leave us galaxies away."

He nodded, fairly understanding the risk. "Did you send the Subjugation Force?"

"Yes, drop-ships and Ionos are currently en route to Mobius as we speak."

"And Sagittarius?"

Itera sighed miserably, brushing away a lock of her red hair that had fallen in front of her face. "Dareth, I sent her, but..." She took a few quick strides to pass in front of the wolverine and blocked his advance. He merely stopped and stared her in the eyes. "Dareth, I don't trust her. I don't trust her and you shouldn't, either."

"...And what is the origin of your mistrust? Is it because she outranks you?"

"No, it's not-"

"Is it because she receives more time in the field than you?"

"No-"

"Is it because she is beautiful?"

The question caught Itera off guard and she could only stutter the same word, "No," over and over.

Dareth sighed and shook his head the same way a parent would at a child who had run directly into a wall. "Itera, you must come to terms with the fact that you won't always be the prettiest face in an eternity of existence."

"Dareth..."

"Is it because of her past? Is it because I have shown her Ahea?" His latter question was stated without so much as a hint of any emotion.

"It's because of her past... Don't you think she may just be using you as a shield to cover up her actions and still receive adequate living resources?" The wolverine simply folded his arms. "Dareth, don't you think she is just doing the little odd jobs? Bring a force over here, kill a public official there, all in your name, just to keep herself in good favor with you? You feed her, you clothe her, you offer her various shelters, but she has given no proof of her loyalty to you."

"Itera?"

"Y-yes?"

"She's a Zodiac. You honestly believe I haven't made sure of their loyalty before handpicking them for the job? Do you also distrust Cancer? Leo? The Geminis?"

She hanged her head downward. "...No, sir."

Dareth stepped around her and continued his march, Itera dragging herself behind him. "Itera, if you continue to distrust and insult a Zodiac behind her back, I may one day take it as a challenge from you to her, you know."

"...Dareth?"

"Remember, although I _do _detest the whole 'commander and subordinate' complex, I'll make use of it if I have to." He laughed whole-heartedly. "I could put you and Sagittarius into some rather interesting situations if I felt like it."

She smiled, fortunate that he couldn't see her blush in the dimly-lit hall. "...Dareth, there's something wrong with you." Sometimes, some of the things that came out of the wolverine's mouth were less than respectable, but over Itera's period of service to him, she had come to understand that he was usually jesting. Usually.

"But for now," he concluded, "let's focus on finding our way around. Let's get ourselves moving in Veni Serverei's _general _direction. There's a decent possibility that Sagittarius has already found the brat."

* * *

Cosmo managed to force her eyes open, a light fog slightly obscuring the corners of her vision. For a brief instant she remained completely empty of thought and concern, then the recent events exploded back into her. The Iono, Dareth, the pod, the violet beast, and now... here?

Cosmo glanced around her. She was no longer at the tranquil spring she had landed at, but was apparently indoors. She lay in a bed tucked away in a corner and was covered in heavy blankets. The walls were mostly a blank white besides a single window by the bed that poured in early-morning sunlight and the only hints of the room being a common place were various pieces of furniture located in corners, dressers and stands across the walls, and a single wooden chair beside her. Specifically gaining Cosmo's attention was a table adjacent to the bed which held an assortment of equipment that looked eerily similar to vaccines. Some of them held some mysteriously colored fluids.

Her gaze shot across the room as the door suddenly creaked open, a woman carrying a metal tray stepping through. Upon a single glance at the Seedrian, she nearly dropped the tray in surprise. "Ah, you're awake!" She kicked the door closed and lay the tray on the table, seating herself in the chair. From this close, various details could be made out. She seemed about as tall as Cosmo's Kemao acquaintances, but held distinguishing differences. Rather than the elaborate silvery cloak worn by Clames and Jeckres, she dressed with less a more scarlet flare, a shirt and skirt with a copper- based belt around her waist and over her shoulder. Her short auburn hair gave her a rather boyish look, but, and most distinguishing, were two locks of hair that fell out and downward, but arced back up past either side of her face. To Cosmo, they seemed almost like inverted antennae.

"It's about time, too," the woman smiled, pulling a vaccine from the table and injecting it into the back end of one she had just brought in, the chemicals mixing into a strange purple color. "I was worried you would slip into a coma or something. That thing whacked you pretty hard." Cosmo eyed the shot suspiciously as it was prepared, occasionally making a silent glance at the woman. Upon catching one of these glances, she was greeted with only a warm smile. "So, what's your name, kid?"

Cosmo attempted no answer, but rather sat, unblinkingly.

"Come on, no harm in that, is there? I'm Senteed. You?" Upon receiving no more than a silent, and somewhat bitter, stare, the woman raised the inoculation up. "Would you be a little more comfortable if I put this away?"

Cosmo glanced at the needle and back, but still remained silent. _There's no telling,_ she thought, the most recent event coming to mind, _that she's not with Dareth... This seems too convenient._

"Come on, I know you can understand me." Senteed placed the needle on the table and stared back, her smile fading. "I've got a translator. Even if you don't, I do. You understand me and I'll understand you. Just tell me your name. It's kind of weird to call you nothing but 'kid.'"

_Dareth already knows my name... And I'm certain everyone who works for him also knows it. So if she doesn't, then she must not be working for him! Unless... it's some sort of reverse psychology? Maybe she wants me to think she doesn't know so that I won't know that she does know it. Or maybe- maybe she wants me to think that! Or maybe she- she... she... Forget it, I'll just tell her._ Cosmo sighed, attempting to relieve her own frustration. "...Cosmo," she answered meekly.

"Cosmo?" Senteed pondered the name for a moment. "Like the flower? Or like, of course, the universe? ...I'd imagine the flower. You look so much like a little bud... Sarpecian, right?"

She flinched at the question. For some reason, it had taken her off guard. Immediately, the ever-so-paranoid Yajus' words of caution rang in her ears. '_But most of all, and I mean this, do _not, _under _any _circumstances, let _anyone _know you are a Seedrian!' _She paused for a moment, then gave a slight nod. "...Yes."

Senteed continued her ponderous streak. "So why are you on Serverei? We saw your pod. Pretty good piece of tech. But a quick question about that- why wasn't there some sort of safety harness attached to the seat? That's so dangerous!"

Although she would have made no attempt to answer, Cosmo found herself drawing a blank at her question. _No safety harness? ...That... why wasn't there one? A fully functioning pod, but... had Tails even considered the danger of landing in it? _As if reminded to resurface, a dull, but throbbing pain built up in her chest. _If there had been some sort of harness, I wouldn't have been smashed against the panel..._ She moved her hand to her chest to test the pain, but froze in shock upon feeling only bare skin.

Cosmo abruptly snatched a handful of the blankets around her and tucked them under her chin, flushing

in mortification. "Where- where are my clothes? Where are they?"

She gave another warm smile. "Calm down, they're being washed. No offense, but they were pretty dirty when we brought you in. They should be done in a few minutes. But you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here?"

"'WE?'" She began shaking, only picking up on the single word. "'When WE brought you in?' Who else is there?"

"_Calm down._" Senteed's voice reached a rather warning tone. "Don't worry about that. I'm the one who took your clothes. It's not like I let any guys see you. That would just be cruel. We found you, brought you in, and I took you in here. Simple as that. Nobody has come in here except for me. Is that a little better?"

"...Yes." The Seedrian's eyes fell to the blankets over her, not wanting to look her in the eye. As strange a feeling as it was, she was simply embarrassed at being so embarrassed.

"Good. I wasn't expecting you to make such a fuss over this." She plucked the vaccine from the table. "I need you to take this now. It should replace some of the displaced bone marrow."

Cosmo stared at the needle, a confused expression on her face. "Bone marrow?"

"Your sternum has a small crack in it. Probably happened during the landing."

"That... would explain the pain I've been feeling." She pulled her arm from under the blanket and allowed Senteed to administer the medicine.

As she placed the needle on the tray, the woman sighed. "Alright, one more time. Why are you here? Did something happen on your ship?" She let the question hang in the air for several seconds, then continued upon not receiving an answer. "Was there some sort of emergency? Did you come under fire? ...Were there Kemaos? That would explain it."

"...It... it was an accident..."she sighed, recounting the various little mistakes that had lead to this. _If I had left the pod quicker... if I had pulled that lever in time... if I wasn't such a klutz! _"It was just a big mistake." _Missing Contacts..._ Cosmo shot up upon remembering the words, then slowly laid back down and replaced the blanket upon remembering what she lacked. "I... I was told to file for something called "Missing Contacts."

"Smart." She nodded. "Is someone coming to find you?"

"Y- yes. My friends should be here soon. They told me to file for that and it would make it easier for them to find me." She glanced down at the blanket, then at the woman. "Could you... get my clothes? This feels so strange."

With a nod, she stood from the chair and made her way to the door, looking back as she opened it. "When you're done in here, would you like something to eat? You look half-starved."

Although she was ready to politely decline, she suddenly found herself attempting to remember her last meal. _In my entire time being alive again... have I even eaten anything? ...Not a bite, I think. _She nodded. "...If it isn't too much trouble."

"Nah, my brother fancies himself a chef. You'd practically be doing him a favor if you were to eat his cooking. Be back in a moment." Senteed quietly closed the door behind her, leaving the Seedrian to her thoughts.

_Well... she seems... nice enough, I guess. I don't think she's with Wildson._ She sighed, rather annoyed with herself. _Listen to yourself! Could you be any more paranoid? She's just an ordinary citizen living her life. If there's anyone who should be suspicious, it should be her of me. People don't just fall out of the sky every day. She saved me from that animal, brought me into her house..._ Cosmo glanced at the numerous vaccines. _...nursed me to health, went and had my clothes washed, and is now offering me food. And I've just been laying over here, secretly accusing her of working with a serial killer and having a fit about her taking my clothes off! What gives me that right? _Her thoughts were broken by the sound of a voice, a male voice at that, emitted from just outside her door. The words were loud, but muffled to the point of them being incomprehensible. Immediately, Cosmo went into an insecure panic. _Don't come in, don't come in, just turn around and walk away. If anyone comes through that door, just let it be Senteed. Don't come in, don't come in..._

She sank under the blanket as the door flew open, but sighed in relief as the woman strutted in, Cosmo's familiar dress neatly folded in her arms. Senteed laid them out on the bed at Cosmo's feet, smiling at her in the process. "There, you've got your clothes now. Feeling better?"

Ignoring the teasing tone her words were laden with, she returned the smile. "Yes, much."

"Alright, you get dressed and I'll get you fed. As soon as you're done I'm taking you into town and getting you filed. That fine by you?"

Cosmo's eyes widened. "You'll take me to do that, too?"

"Sure. I can't exactly leave a lost little girl stranded someplace she doesn't know, now can I?"

* * *

"Zoom." Upon the given command, a lens magnified to many times its original image size, resting on a small residence surrounded by a growth of various vegetation. "Save image." The woman pulled the lens away from her eye and spoke into a communicator on her wrist. "Suspect dwelling located. Two individuals reported entering while carrying a small girl. Likely came from the crash site. Shall I investigate?"

A quiet voice responded from the accessory. "Negative, Sagittarius. Hang back and observe. We don't need unnecessary conflict with the locals.

She groaned in disappointment before responding. "Yes sir."


	11. Chapter 11

"So what brings you guys down here?" Sonic muttered as Spyke, Cloudy, and Zhagohst marched into the engine room, the feline dragging a bucket behind him. Progress had come along slowly, and over half the room still had Dissipator fluid hugging along every surface.

The Yajus glanced down at Knuckles, who lay unconscious in a corner. "Well... you're one man short. And the sooner we get this cleaned up the quicker we head to Serverei." He and Zhagohst plucked a couple of sponges from Cloudy as he summoned them from his pockets. "Oh, and I have a little more motivation for you, kitsune."

The feline Jaynu gave the Yajus a puzzled look. "Spyke, I told you we shouldn't tell him..."

Tails lazily glanced up at him from across the room, pausing his work on a particularly stubborn crimson streak. "What is it, now? Something else wrong?"

He nodded, his expression entirely stoic. "Yes. Just before Dareth shot out of here we intercepted a message from one of his men. It seems there's somebody at Serverei looking for Cosmo at this very moment." His warning drew the full attention of the fox. "Somebody called 'Sagittarius.' There's a good chance that, whoever he is, he may already have the girl in his custody. And if that's so-"

"Then Dareth has her." Tails squeezed the small sponge in his hand. "And we've already lost."

Sonic threw his sponge to the floor. "Is there any way we can do this faster? Even when I wipe some of this stuff away more of it stretches over and takes its place! We're getting nowhere!"

"Cloudy, this stuff _is _water-soluble, right?" Tails stared in curiosity at the red fluid dominating a wall.

"More than that. You notice that no matter how much of it you get on those rags, they aren't spreading to you? The Dissipator fluid completely ceases functioning after being saturated with water."

The kitsune's eyes shot open at his response, a stroke of brilliance occurring to him. "What if I flooded the room?"

Responses were mixed. While Sonic and Zhagohst gave him looks of confusion, Spyke and Cloudy shared identical poses, each raising an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"If it stops working in water and I flooded the room, that should render it all useless, right? I have a new backwash system that was supposed to be used as a self-destruct mechanism. I can flood the important rooms with water. To avoid harming the machinery, I can set up moisture-proof layers around them." He glanced up at a large machine in the room, watching as a Dissipator stream probed into the surface and realizing that now protective layer would have initially protected the engines from such a piercing fluid. "And I can also drain the liquid out when it's done... and filters automatically purify the water before it's recycled.

Both the Yajus and Jaynu glanced at one another in silence before Cloudy patted him on the shoulder. "Told you the kid's smart."

Cosmo, to her own relief been given the opportunity to fully dress, cautiously stepped down a narrow hall and flight of stairs, led by the overly springy Senteed. Before being able to sufficiently view her surroundings, the Seedrian found herself escorted into a chair beside a large, gleaming white table. Upon proper viewing, it became apparent that the room was a large dining room. An opaque haze drifted throughout the air above her head, carrying with it a mixed aroma of spices. The smoke flowed from a large corner, manned by a figure half-obscured. His arms moved in a dizzying blur across a countertop as various sorts of kitchenware shifted around him.

Cosmo glanced at Senteed as she pulled up a seat beside her. "So... he's the chef?"

"If you want to call him that." She glanced at the man in question, who kept himself hunched over the counter. "He's just my brother. Nothing too important about him. Lorl, you gonna' say hello to the kid?"

He took a quick peek over his shoulder, then refocused his attention on his preparations. "You look famished, kid!" His voice was laden with an obvious and ridiculous amount of pride. "Look as if you haven't eaten well in ages!"

"I..." she looked down at her stomach. "...I'm not _that _thin, am I?"

"Just skin and bones to me," Senteed answered, jabbing a finger into her rib. "I knew you guys were a little frail, but not like this." She leaned back in her chair, eyes still studying the Seedrian. "So, how you liking our..." She glanced at Lorl. "...happy... little family so far?"

"It's... nice." Cosmo shut her eyes, contemplating the word 'family.' _Mine... are gone. Completely. Not a one left. And yet, these people keep living on without any difficulty, as if such a tragedy could never happen to them... Why did it have to be us? Why the Seedrians? Is it horrible to ask that it would have happened to somebody else instead? ...Of course it is._

"Ah, our little visiter is finally awake." Cosmo turned at the voice, observing a man who held similar traits to both Senteed and Lorl. auburn hair boasting inverted antennae and a slender frame. He loomed over the Seedrian, an honestly curious expression on his face. "About time, we were beginning to worry. Lorl, make sure you make something good for this girl."

For the first time, the 'chef' paused. " Sorpal, what exactly do _you _think would work? Never served a plant before. Wouldn't vegetation be... cannibalism?"

Senteed gave him a completely blank stare. "...If she ate another _SARPECIAN! _That's like saying we'd be cannibals for eating some sort of beast."

"Excuse me for questioning..." Lorl turned and slid a plate piled with an unidentifiable cuisine across the table, stopping at the Seedrian. "There. Let me know how you like it. I've never served one your kind, so I don't know if this will work out, but..." He shrugged. "Well, consider yourself my first experiment. If you like it, great. If not, then I'll assume you don't have taste buds."

Upon several seconds of silence with no actual response from Cosmo, Senteed tapped next to the plate. "Come on, eat up. Don't be shy about it. We've got stuff to do today. His stuff isn't really that bad." She looked up at Lorl, who wore an antsy, expectant expression. "At least he didn't incinerate anything this time."

The scope zoomed in on the front of the abode as two figures stepped into the sunlight, one a tall local, the other a small, green-haired child. "Ah, a much better view this time. Save image." The woman spoke into her TSCA. "Suspects in visual range. Sending information. Would this be her?" She zoomed in on the child as she was lead away from the house to a large, streamlined machine.

After a brief pause, a voice responded over the accessory. "Affirmative, Sagittarius. That's Cosmo. Permission granted to apprehend her."

She breathed deeply for a moment. "...Not yet."

"Why not? You were so anxious to investigate just a moment ago."

"Too sudden. Too obvious. Whoever that other woman is, she's living out here in the woods." She chuckled, a hint of admiration in her voice. "There are lots of dangerous things out here. To live amongst them would take somebody who's capable of defending herself rather well. I'd rather not risk getting myself killed trying to pick this girl up. Need to intimidate them first."

"Do things how you will. All that matters is the result. Be sure to apprehend her. That is all."

The accessory buzzed off, leaving Sagittarius to her thoughts. Contradicting her station, she held further doubts. _I can't believe this. What would that filthy beast want with a girl her age?_ She zoomed closer on the Seedrian. _Look at her! What is he, some kind of pedophile? _A sigh. _Whatever. It's none of my business. Just bring her in, soak in the glory, live it off well. The client and the mark are all that matter._

"Pretty thing, isn't it?" Senteed patted the hull of a large machine. It was painted a bright yellow and was well-streamlined, obviously some form of vehicle. The cockpit stood open on either side, doors having either been removed or never existed to begin with. "Use it to get to town and back. Pretty fast thing right here."

Remembering the collision of the pod and secretly wishing to never have to experience such a blow again, Cosmo eyed it up and down suspiciously. "Is it safe?"

"With me driving it, yeah. Come on, hop in." Senteed slid into the cockpit, seating herself in front of a panel with controls and beckoning the seat beside her to the Seedrian. "Perfectly safe. I use this thing every day."

Cautiously, Cosmo crawled into the vehicle, sinking into the seat. With a glance to her side, she noticed metal clips protruding from it, and couldn't help but realize how this would have served well earlier on. _Safety harnesses... Must remind Tails when I see him._ Less than a second after Cosmo secured them across her chest, the woman beside her placed her hands on two levers and smashed them forward, lurching the entire vehicle ahead at a whiplash-inducing speed, indifferent to her terrified shrieks.

"Engine room is now... sealed." Tails stared down at a panel at his control seat. "Now to activate the backwash..."

"Make sure not to mess this one up, too."

The kitsune glanced up at the direction of the voice, miserably noticing only the Kemao Jeckres leaned against a wall in that direction. Although Tails showed no expression, a fire was lit inside. _What gives him the right to speak? The cruel... He's little better than Wildson!_ His hands curled into fists. _He broke Cosmo's leg! She was scared and confused, completely helpless, and he chases her off a cliff? What the hell's wrong with him? I don't care if your race didn't get along with another, that doesn't excuse him! ...And Cosmo's not even that race!_

Cloudy tapped him on the shoulder. "Tails, is it ready? We need to do this as quickly as possible."

He blinked, momentarily forgetting the situation at hand, and feeling a twinge in shame in having done so. "Right, right, the backwash." He tampered with a few controls before stepping back from the panel. "Alright, just give it a moment."

The crew occupying the bridge shared glances for several seconds before a dull roar mimicking the ebb and flow of tides began to echo into the room from down the hall, the floor shaking slightly with the muffled noise. Spyke was the first to draw attention to it. "Would that be it?"

"Yes, it'll take a few minutes. Once the room's flooded, it'll just be a matter of-"

The fox's explanation was cut short as a furious yell echoed from down the hall. Momentarily baffled by the origin of the sound, the Yajus sighed, scratching the back of his head. "We... we forgot Knuckles, didn't we?"

Upon a brief glance across the room, the echidna, indeed, was confirmed to be missing.

"We really just left him in there unconscious, didn't we?"

Moments later, the echidna in question stomped through the door, redder than ever. Water dripped from his hair, forming a trail behind him. "WHO THE HELL TURNED THAT ON!"

Sonic stepped up, punching him in the arm. "Hey, cool down. We just found a better way to clean that place, that's all-"

"WITH ME IN IT?"

The Yajus eyed him with skepticism. "You _did _seal the door back up on your way out, didn't you?"

Opening his mouth to roar another complaint, Knuckles paused, looking behind him down the hall to see a trail of water, far larger than the one he had created, streaming it's way into the room. With a loud groan in irritation, he swung around and marched back up through the water.

Cosmo felt herself lurch forward as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Eyes squeezed shut and limbs tucked in, she resembled a small ball in her seat. Senteed laughed at her posture. "Did I scare you a little?" She hit a few switches on the panel and the machine ceased all movement, essentially parked. "I love this thing. Can get moving so fast if you let it."

The Seedrian peeked her eyes open, shaking from head to toe. "I...I...I'm still...alive, aren't I?" She nervously glanced up and immediately forgot the ride, taken in by the sights around her. In a simple matter of minutes, the landscape had changed from the serene natural beauty of the forest to a sprawling, metallic metropolis. Many vehicles similar to Senteed's raced through metal-and-glass roads, many pedestrian walkways arching over the pathways. Absurdly oversized buildings and structures reached into the heavens, many walkways punching in and out in various locations. Surprisingly, the entirety of the municipality had a beautiful shine across each surface, as if every little nook and cranny had a personal buffer. "This... this is..." Cosmo unlatched the harness and stepped onto the flat pavement. "...I've never seen anything like this..."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow at the gaping girl. "That's rather surprising. Veni Serverei's not the only world with metropolises. Plenty of others have them. Here." She motioned her arm toward a large, and just as well-polished as everything else in view, building directly in front of them, large stone steps dominating the view. "Registry Office. Place for applications to jobs, communication references, and, conveniently enough, where you can apply for Missing Contacts. You said that your friends _are _coming to look for you, right?"

"Yes..."

She nodded. "Then this is where they'll start. Come on, let's go."

High amongst the metropolitan canopy where nobody would bother to look, an unusual creature swooped in, wings folding as its hooves came in contact with the metallic surface. A woman dismounted the creature, stepping over to the edge of the building. She breathed in deeply as the wind blew her azure hair aside, the cold air stinging, yet refreshing, her lungs. _It's only a matter of time, _she thought to herself, _before I have to drop this act. I need his resources... but I can't rely on them for much longer. Wildson's just too..._ She sighed miserably. _Like I have any right to judge his actions. Mine are hardly much better..._

She recalled days long since past, as a child staring admirably into a man's eyes. Bold, she had once thought him. Wearing the shabbiest of clothing, but a fire in his eyes that spoke with more power than any words could ever hope to. A firearm strapped to his back, a hand on her shoulder. "We shall teach you," he had said to her. "Your parents may be gone, but you need not worry. With our guidance, we will teach you to take care of yourself. We will teach you to hunt, to survive, to _live._ We are your family now. Now and forever. Don't ever forget that. We will look after you so that, in turn, you will look after us in the future. Learn to reap the benefits of the world, Arté, and leave no refuge for prey on land."

_Why did I leave them? _She questioned, eyes squeezed shut. _Why did I leave **him? **Just as they began to fall apart, I fled. Even now I occasionally see a Servant of the Night. They look at me, they recognize me... they scorn me. Just when we needed to stick together, I ran and hid like a child. I've betrayed them... And is serving this sick wolverine in any way redeeming myself? This 'New World' he keeps romanticizing about is all smoke and mirrors... but this... 'Ahea.' Why is it so terrifying? Why does it shake me? Why do I still have nightmares of it...?_

_It's dangerous. Whatever this 'Ahea' is, it's driven Wildson mad. And it'll drive me mad if I continue to see it... I know it._

"Learn to reap the benefits of the world, Arté," this man with the fiery eyes had once said.

_But Arté is gone,_ she thought, adjusting her scope on two figures as they entered the Registry Office. _All that remains is Sagittarius._

The interior of the Registry Office was as boring as the name would suggest. Perfectly clean walls and floors, absolutely vacant besides a woman of the same race as the locals occupying a desk at the front. Senteed, with a hand on her shoulder, steered Cosmo to the front desk. "Good evening, ma'am."

The woman, who was immersed in an awkwardly foreign computer in front of her, glanced at both her and Cosmo, her eyes remaining fixed on the Seedrian. "My, what an adorable little girl..."

Senteed smiled as the girl bashfully looked to the floor. "Yeah, but she's a little shy."

"So, what are you hear for?" The woman looked back up at her, expression far too cheerful to be natural. "Applying for work?"

"Not quite. I need to file this girl under Missing Contacts."

This brought a look of concern from the woman as she looked back to the Seedrian. "What happened? Did you get separated from your family? Are you alright?"

_Yes, I did get separated from family, _Cosmo thought bitterly. _A long time ago. Why does that still bother me now..._ She shook her head. "...Made a few mistakes... and accidentally got separated from my friends. They should be coming to look for me."

"Then you came to the right place. Should we go into a detailed analysis, or would a brief summary be enough?"

"Nothing fancy," Senteed replied, leaning down and hugging Cosmo to her side. If it weren't for obvious racial differences, they would look for all the world like a mother and child. "If her friends are on their way, then it shouldn't be too hard for them to track her down. Just a name would probably be enough."

She began typing slowly on a keyboard before the monitor. "What's your name?"

"...Cosmo..."

"Definitely unique enough." She continued to type, not skipping a beat. "Is that it? Just 'Cosmo?' Do you have a surname?"

"I... don't know it."

"Well, that shouldn't make much difference. Don't think there's been another 'Cosmo' through here before. Race?"

"Seed-" Cosmo's eyes shut open at her own slip-up. "S-Sarpecian, ma'am."

The woman seemed to not have noticed, as she continued her typing. "That... should be all!" She looked up from the computer, a smile on her face. "All they'll have to do is ask for your name, give a brief description, and we'll give them a rest. Think you'll need a picture taken? What about a reference?"

The Seedrian looked up at Senteed. Although she normally held a cheerful complexion, she was now eyeing her with the greatest of curiosity and, even more so, suspicion. "Picture, not likely." Her voice was alarmingly quiet. "Cosmo, what about a reference? Know the names of the people who are coming to get you?"

It took her a moment to realize she had been questioned, her attention focused mostly on her tone and expression. _She heard that... A stupid slip of the tongue..._ "Y-yes. The leader is a man named Spyke. He said he's a GMF Yajus."

"GMF?" The woman's eyes widened as she typed in the info. "You're with GMF? And a Yajus, no less? That's pretty impressive... Well, we've got it all in. You know, there are some shelters available for children on the street. If you need some references, I can-"

"No, it's fine." Senteed's smile suddenly bust back to life and was directed at the woman. "She's staying with me. I'll give you the location.

_She's pretending not to have noticed, _Cosmo sighed, tuning out Senteed as she turned information over. _But she did. She heard it. She knows what I am. Stupid, stupid habits..._

_It's just been mistake after mistake, _the woman thought, watching as her prey emerged from the building. _It would have been okay if I had stayed, but I left... and then... and then... He showed up..._

She closed her eyes, memories flooding back to her. Curled into a ball in the corner of a dark, cold cellar, a rifle half the length of her body laid across her knees, she had shuddered at the sounds of screaming and gunshots outside. She had come to recognize the individual voices of her friends, and was terrified at the screams they emitted. A figure silently stepped into the cellar, blending in so well with the darkness that it almost seemed as if it were part of it. Her hands began to shake violently as the figure approached closer and closer, intentionally making its way to her. _I can't fight back, _she had thought, aware of the lack of ammunition in her weapon. The shadow had stopped above her, it's bestial face staring down with an unexpected expression of concern and worry. It offered a hand to her, with its words of comfort. "Child, this is hardly the place for one of your age. Such strife should not be made open to one such as yourself. ...Come with me. Come with me, and I shall show you peace... I shall show you caressing light of eternity... I shall show you _Ahea..._"

_Why did I go... Why didn't I take to my feet and run... why did I abandon them?_ She peered down at the two figures, both reentering a vehicle, one rather reluctantly. _And now, because I stayed with him... I'm hunting a child. Hardly a quarry, and not one that does good for the conscience._ Her eyes followed the vehicle as it shot down the road at unnerving speeds, as if from a cannon. _Sorry, kid. But I have a job to do. Tonight, the Sagittarius begins her hunt._

Hours having passed and the two having returned from their errand, Cosmo slumped into a chair in the main living area, the walls a dark blue that seemed to do little more than add to her melancholy mindset. She glanced nervously at Senteed, who was pacing back and forth across the room. The expression on the woman's face seemed ever so thoughtful. "So..." Senteed spoke hardly above a whisper. "About how long should we be expecting them? Never really dealt with GMF's bunch, you know... And a Yajus, at that. That's... pretty high ranking, if I recall."

"I'm not really sure." Cosmo briefly remembered how the situation had been before she left. "They may be held up a bit... We were having a bit of a problem before I landed here."

She stopped, raising an eyebrow. "What sort of trouble? You were with GMF, so..." She suddenly dashed over and dropped to her knees, her face inches from the Seedrian's, causing her to jump in her seat. "It was that rebel, wasn't it? Wildson's men! Am I right?"

She stammered for several seconds, completely shocked at how quickly Senteed had caught on. Having just heard about the man only very recently, the idea of some stranger immediately recognizing the name and accurately assuming the situation seemed unusual at best. "I... um... how do you know about him?"

Senteed's voice dropped well below a whisper as Lorl entered the diner for some business or other, visible through a doorway. "I'm right, aren't I? Everybody knows about him! Everybody who knows anything about what's happening on other worlds, anyways. The man's supposed to be a depraved maniac! Why in the world would you be caught up with his men?" She sighed, lightly placing her hands on either side of Cosmo's face. "Is there something you're not telling me? Something we should know about?"

Cosmo averted her eyes, looking to the floor. _Should I tell her or not? She... heard me say what I am. There shouldn't be any real harm in telling her, I seriously think she's trustworthy. But what would she say if I just told her, just to remove any doubts? …And that Dareth is after me for something... Does that mean that I'm in danger here, too? If I am... then those around me are in danger... _She looked back up at the woman, her expression still flooding with concern. "Senteed... I think we may be-"

Her confession was abruptly halted by a startling crash and a shriek of pain, catching the attention of both girls. Through the doorway, Lorl fell to the floor, clutching his shoulder. A window mounted on the wall before him had seemingly exploded, sending razor-edged shards outward in all directions. Senteed raced to his side and crouched over him, attempting to turn him on his back. "Lorl, what happened? Are you alright?"

Flat on his back, he glared at the gaping hole where the glass had been, the night air now whistling through it. Between his groans and quickened breathing, he hissed toward the window. "Somebody's out there! I saw them! Right outside the window! They're armed!"

She glanced at the window, then back at Lorl's shoulder, blood dripping from between his fingers. She looked up Sorpal as he sprinted in from a back hall, widened eyes cast at his injured brother. "Lorl, are you alright?"

"Sorpal," Senteed hopped to her feet, fetching a rag from a countertop and tossing it to him, "take care of him, I'll be a moment." Leaving her brothers to their own care, she ran back into the living area and the petrified Seedrian.

"That- that must be Dareth's!" She shook her head violently, half not believing it herself. "I thought Tails would be here first! I did, I really did!" She threw her face into her hands, attempting to smother her sobs. Her voice was nearly incomprehensible. "I didn't know anyone was coming, I didn't, I didn't!"

Senteed snapped her attention to the front door, an abrupt slam bulging the wood inwards. She looked back to the terrified girl, placing her hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, Cosmo. I can't keep you here. Are you sure that's one of Wildson's?"

"It... it can't be Spyke! I... what will we do? I don't want to go with him!"

"Calm down, calm down. You'll be alright, we have some places we can hide you. This place has lots of little storage spaces. Come here." She led the girl by the hand to the exact center of the room, kneeling down and brushing away dust on the wooden floor. She paused a brief moment as the door was slammed again, the bulge increasing in size. Putting her hands to the floor, Senteed managed to wiggle her fingers between two floor tiles and pulled one out, wedging a plank out of place. With one arm she lifted the lid to a trap door, revealing a dark, but not entirely opaque room beneath the house. Senteed caught a fleeting look of relief on the Seedrian's face, and smiled in return. "Place used to be an old hideout for people during a war. Long time ago. I was just a kid, then. Go on, hop in, but don't wander around in there. Don't want to knock something over and draw attention to yourself."

Cosmo took a single, careful glance at her. "...Thank you."

"Go on, hurry up!" With her free hand, she gave the Seedrian a nudge in the back, pushing her into the cellar. Without a word, she closed the lid and resealed the wood. She glanced back at the door as the slamming continued and positioned herself a few meters from it, staring unflinchingly.

"Senteed, get away from there!" The woman did not budge, despite Sorpal's warning.

"Don't worry... I'll be fine..."

With one final impact, the door flew open with a single woman, armed with some large rifle, standing in the entrance. She glared down the barrel of the weapon at Senteed, her azure hair flowing in the tailwind.

She undauntedly stared at the assailant, the weapon posing no particular threat in her mind. "...What gives you the right to come barging into somebody's home, firing your weapon on civilians? Who are you? State your name!"

Eyes like that of a bird of prey, the woman kept her firearm fixed on Senteed. Her entire outlook seemed foreign and sharpened, as if prepared to fight a war: she wore what appeared to be some form of kevlar vest, a pure white jacket over it that nearly flowed down to her ankles. Heavy gauntlets covered both arms, large, darkened boots stretching past her knees. Besides the contrasting ivory jacket and clean, sleek hair, her attire seemed to be mainly comprised of darkened colors. "My, you certainly talk tough. Do you not realize exactly what this hunk of metal pointed _directly at your head _is?"

"I have a good clue. What of it? You're going to break and enter, then shoot us all? What do you hope to gain from that?" Senteed folded her arms and smiled. Her voice seemed forceful enough to move mountains for miles."Kill us, and you'll be hunted down. I'm sure you know that. Now, who are you? Out with it!"

After a brief pause, she lowered her weapon, smiling back. "My name's not important to you. Rather than that, you can call me the name assigned to me. I am Sagittarius. Will that suffice for you?" She scanned her eyes across the room, mindfully examining every detail. "I came here to retrieve somebody... A little girl. Think you've seen her?"

"...Sorry, can't say that I have." She motioned her chin toward the door. "Now leave. Go away and don't come back."

"Oh, really? Are you sure about that?" She lowered her free arm to estimate height. "About so tall? Super-thin? Green hair? Flowers in her hair? ..._Seedrian?_" Her smile grew to a sinister level. "Are you really certain you haven't seen her around?"

_Seedrian... I thought I heard Cosmo say that. Thought it was just a mistake, but I guess not..._ For a brief moment, Senteed felt an urge to turn around and glance at the trap door, just as a means of checking on the refugee. _Don't turn around, don't look. Don't do anything that may draw attention to her whereabouts. _"Seedrian? Is that some sort of joke? You know they are all extinct."

Sagittarius shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. "That's what I used to think, too. Until about a day or so ago. To put it straight, I'm under orders to deliver. All I need is the girl, and I'll be on my merry little way." Her eyes suddenly widened briefly, then returned to their sharp, piercing glare. "My, oh my. This house... certainly brings back memories."

"...What...?" Her question remained unanswered as the woman stepped in, continuing to glance around. Senteed took a threatening stomp toward her. "Get out! _NOW!"_

"I've been here before..." Completely ignoring the warning, she stepped past her and into the middle of the room... directly above the trap door. "This place, I was here! This is where..."

The Sagittarius snapped to attention as Sorpal emerged from the opposite doorway, brandishing a large kitchen knife in his hands. She responded on instinct, lifting her weapon and aiming directly at the man's head. He glared, not batting an eye. "There's nobody here, other than my sister, brother, and I. I suggest you leave. Both Senteed and I can kill you with our bare hands, and I can guarantee you that you won't be able to shoot _both _of us before one of us snaps your neck."

She chuckled. "Oh, really? And what gives you that idea?"

He nodded at the barrel. "Simple. That's a Handheld Hypersphere Driver. Great for picking something off at a long range, but the slide locks after every shot. You can't get out more than one every few seconds. At this range, that weapon would be more of a hinderance than a threat. You should learn more about what you're threatening us with. Now, I'm going to give you till the count of five to get your ass out of my house before I have to drag it out."

Sagittarius grinned at him, lifting the weapon away. "Well, you certainly know your way around a gun. I like that... You're alright." She winked, clicking her tongue.

"Move. One..."

"Calm down, I'm going." She stepped toward the door, glancing between the siblings. "But don't think I'm done here. I know that kid's around somewhere. I've seen her around. And I won't rest until she's in Wildson's hands. I suggest you get smart and hand her over... before even worse fate befalls you." She stepped outside, Senteed immediately slamming the door shut behind her.

Sorpal peered out a front window, watching as the huntress disappeared into the forest's growth. "Alright, she's gone. Let the kid out."

With a sigh of relief, she pulled out the floor panel and lifted the trap door, Cosmo's tearstained face looking back up at her. "...You alright, there?"

She stared, completely shaken by the event. "Who... Who was she?"

"'I won't rest until she's in Wildson's hands,' she said." Sorpal shook his head miserably. "Definitely one of the rebels. And she described _you _down to a detail!"

Senteed reached her arms into the cellar, pulling the girl out. Upon settling her on the floor and closing the hatch, she crouched down next to Cosmo. "You're Seedrian?"

She nodded silently.

"...Well, why didn't you tell us? And why didn't you tell us somebody was after you?" Her eyes suddenly widened and she looked to her brother. "Shouldn't you be looking after Lorl?"

"Oh, right!" The man rushed out of the room, presumably to his brother's side.

"I was told to not... to not tell anyone. Spyke said that it was the most important thing for me to remember- to not tell. And... well, I thought Wildson was too busy with our ship to come looking for me..."

Senteed sighed, shaking her head. "That would never have worked. Wildson has agents and spies hidden all over many different planets. Even when he's busy, he always has somebody to do other work for him. There are so many worlds that are all terrified at his influence. People are afraid... With so many people on his side, and being unable to tell the good from the bad, everyone fears that they will lose everything to him, and not know they are doing so until it is far too late." She looked to the ceiling, contemplating options. "But now we need to decide what to do next. There's no telling when that woman will come back. We can't risk leaving you alone. I'm certain she's got an eye on our house. The moment she gets an opportunity, she'll probably swoop in. We need to get you somewhere safe, but we need to do it discreetly... If we can get you out into the city, that will probably do it. There's no way she would try something with so many witnesses. Who knows, maybe, with a little luck, your friends may be at the Registry Office by morning. If we can get you to them, that would probably solve everything right there."

They waited for several minutes as Senteed racked her brain for options, then finally settled on one.

"Alright, it's simple enough. We'll head out first thing tomorrow morning, and we'll bring you with us. No point hiding you, no point disguising you, that Sagittarius will know, anyways. We simply race to town and wait at the Registry Office. If your friends aren't there, we'll camp out in town until they do. Does that sound good to you?"

"...I guess..."

_What...was...that...house?_ Sagittarius ran a hand through her hair, images flooding her brain. _What was that place? I've been there before! Was that... Kirsticot's hideout? Yes, that's exactly it! That's... that's where I ran... That's where he found me, and took me from all the fighting... Dareth, I may be indebted to you, but I feel I don't want this life. The girl was in that cellar, it's obvious enough to me. But... why should I deliver her? What would you want with a girl her age? Are you just some sort of sick, perverted fiend? Or is there something else? I was about her age when you found me, but you didn't do anything bad to me... You gave me a home, you gave me food, bought me pretty clothes, and taught me that I mustn't bring death to others simply to give meaning to my own life, but only to defend. If that's so... why am I doing this? You've had me kill dozens of marks, but I don't even know why. Look at me, I'm getting rusty, anyways. I tried to convince somebody that a sniping weapon was used for melee! I know you have this thing for endangered races, but why exactly are you removing them? ...Is this for your 'New World?'_

She stepped over between two overhanging trees, her mount patiently waiting. Exactly how to describe the beast is a task in itself- a quadruped of sorts, but skeletal. Not a strip of flesh hung from its bones, but rather gears and clockwork were intricately weaved into its framework. The skull, resembling that of a horse's, remained alive, glancing blindly at its surroundings. Two large, mechanical wings folded around its torso, enabling a full range of flight. Mostly dead or mechanical, the beast was, but still functional.

Upon hearing her footsteps through the grass, the undead, synthetic pegasus lowered its head and upper body, allowing her to mount it. _Alright, then. One more job. I deliver the girl. I don't care for what purpose he wants her, I don't care what happens to her. Once I hand her over, I will resign. Dareth's understanding, he won't be angry with me. He'll probably give me a large amount of exchangeable currencies and send me on my way, if anything. After that, I'll find the Servants of the Night and become Arté once again. Just one more job, just one more... then it's over._

_/_

SM) Yeah, I'll admit, this one was a little rushed. I was so anxious to provide a proper introduction to the first Zodiac character- Sagittarius, that I kind of sped things along until I got to the end. In the future, I will likely edit this chapter to make it less of a mash-up of tiny paragraphs.


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